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So death is upon us more than ever...
So since the demise of the US economy, with the crash in the stock market, housing market and bad mortgages, etc, I have been to 6 fatalities in which people have decided to take their own lives. Three times it was head-on accidents, two of which involved innocent people becoming victims as well. Last night it was an unsuccessful attempt to hit another motorist head on that drove the guy to take on a 24" diameter oak tree.... the tree won by the way, shook a little but for 100mph the thing barely knew he was there.
Now I am just one firefighter, one of four groups, and I don't respond to everything my department goes to, so the number (6) in reality is more than likely higher by what others deal with when I am off duty.
Is it me or is this becoming more and more the norm in which we, have to deal with??? Now I consider myself pretty progressive, and wonder how do we the fire service leaders prepare your troops for what is to surely come?
Now I am just one firefighter, one of four groups, and I don't respond to everything my department goes to, so the number (6) in reality is more than likely higher by what others deal with when I am off duty.
Is it me or is this becoming more and more the norm in which we, have to deal with??? Now I consider myself pretty progressive, and wonder how do we the fire service leaders prepare your troops for what is to surely come?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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How about numerous passerby cars reporting the subject attempted to aim at them for a head on collision. How about after people aggressively avoided the subject he then takes a tree on the other side of the road dead square onto the hood ornament, without any turning or a single skid mark, speedo was broke at over 100. One of the other successful ones had just been released from an institution for previous attempts, and another had a note in his car appologizing for any injury or mental issues they may have caused to the driver of the other car.
Seen other news reports of people leaving notes saying this was the only way to get out of debt.
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Yesterdays newspaper on the front page had a huge article in which a 3rd generation dairy farmer, said he is selling the milk for less than the cost of the grain, not to mention all the other bills. He testified at a government hearing, that the association in which they belong to has open up a 24 hr hotline for farmer suicide watch assistance. This is not just me dreaming this up...
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Appeared to be huh? Well one was tractor trailer driver hauling propane and this driver stated everytime he moved the rig over to the shoulder because he could see the car coming from a distance in the wrong lane, the driver of the other car did the same to match him. Right up until the point of impact when he was staring eye to eye at the suicide guy through the windshield.
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Read the article, why would one want to "disguise" a suicide, hmmm probably becasue they only have ADD life insurance... hence economy
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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We respond to what ever comes our way Bro. Unfortunately we WILL face these types of calls and lacking callousness or heartlessness we will deal with them and treat the patients involved just the same as we would any other. The other side of this issue is yes we will or may have to treat our personnel for the trauma and emotional things related to this. Encourage those involved to communicate their feelings and concerns.
Nothing we can do to determine what types of calls are going to come our way and prevent them. I am not too concerned with what the media prints or broadcasts. They will present what ever it takes to sell a newspaper or newscast. Reality is what we face out in the field every day. We will deal with what ever comes our way professionally!
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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I don't get it.
If these suiciders want to die, why don't they just go to the scrap yard and ask them to crush their car with them inside.
Why would you want to kill innocent people unless you were a terrorist of sorts?
There are easier ways to kill yourself than driving your speeding car towards another speeding car.
Lots of freaks out there.
Oh; and we have been preparing for years for nasty/bad.
Anyone getting on the department knows what to expect.
However; WE don't know what to expect until they have had their first "bad one".
TCSS.
Art
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Permalink Reply by Cassie on
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We've seen an increase in suicides/suicide attempts in my fire department. Medically, I feel prepared. Emotionally, with the right support, I'll be okay. The hard part for me was dealing with the family/friends of the patient. I spent 1 hour with the wife of a suicide, staying with her until the police chaplain could take over. Hardest thing I've ever had to do, I was at a loss of what to say... she kept asking me questions, looking for answers, for comfort, and I was afraid of making things worse by saying the wrong thing.
So, I think it would be a good idea to have a discussion about comforting and dealing with the family/friends of the suicidal person because, 1) they are emotionally hurting and 2) hysterical people can interfere with treatment of the patient and the integrity of the scene.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly DePiesse on
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I agree but I think they may feel that if they commit suicide in a non-covential way the family left behind to suffer may collect insurance............OR they want everyone to suffer like they did.
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Permalink Reply by Holly on
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Our dept. doesn't run EMS so I can't comment on that aspect of it other than I haven't noticed any really increase in the norm on calls over the radio. As for MVAs there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary for us. It does make sense though that there could be an increase due to the economy in the future. As unfortunate as that is we will deal with it as it comes.
I have only had to deal with one fatal MVA in my short time with the dept. Not that it didn't hit me but it wasn't real hard on me. I deal with death fairly regularly at my job so I've already got an idea of how to get through it. I think the hardest part is to help any survivors of the incident.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin J. Millis on
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Unfortunatly, My dept. has seen an increase in suicides this last few months. I'm not sure if its all due to the economy. I'm sure there are always other issues but all this stress about money cant be helping anything
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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The calls that we have been running are mainly GSW not people using cars to committ suicide. All we can do is pronounce them and then let the police handle it afterwards.
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Hey All,
I am actually on vacation but wanted to send this news story headline that happened today, (on my group's number) so I should have been there but hey the beach is awesome.... another MVC. with PD car chase, state police with multiple shots fired and then head on collision into a charter bus. Critical patient from inside the bus and the driver of the p/u fled to a restaurant and yelled at people inside the place to kill him?
Here the photos...
http://keenesentinel.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=82004...
TCSS
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