The NFFF builds resources that address the behavioral aspects of health, wellness & safety for firefighters
By Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki

Following is the sixth in a series of seven articles that describe a new approach to mental and behavioral health in the fire service. Read the other articles:

• Keep Your Head in the Game
• Get the Help You Need After a Traumatic Event
• Understanding Psychological First Aid for First Responders
• Check Out What’s on the Horizon for Employee Assistance Programs
• Working on Peer Support Programs

The World Wide Web has fundamentally changed the way that many people look for information. A click of a mouse, in the privacy of one’s own home and at any time a person finds convenient, can lead to an outpouring of information that only a few years ago might have taken months of library work and a fortune in copy money to produce. Laptops, Wi-Fi and smartphones mean that many of us are now “wired in” from the time we get up until we go to sleep.

But there’s a downside as well (there always is): There’s so much information available now that it can be overwhelming to sort through it, and it can be a daunting task to distinguish what is valid and useful from what’s simply hubris and hype. It’s increasingly important to have filters to sort out what’s relevant, to gather items pertinent to your particular interests and needs, and to provide a reliable place to turn for information you can trust.

There’s a lot of information on the Web related to health, safety and behavioral wellness for firefighters. However, what was clearly lacking was a trusted, noncommercial, well-focused and easily recognizable site where firefighters could look for easily understood and readily applicable resources to help themselves and their coworkers address the behavioral aspects of health, wellness and safety in the workplace and beyond.

With this in mind, working groups consisting of experts from three representative constituencies (leaders from major fire service organizations who could outline the behavioral health needs of their members; fire service leaders and subject-matter experts from the fields of military and general behavioral medicine; and experts who could speak to fire-based EAP and community-based EAP, and counselors and mangers from fire department peer support programs) sought out models from related enterprises that might be adapted for the fire service and explored how to make them available.

Among the most striking and well-developed approaches was a website developed by the Veterans Administration for military personnel returning from assignment. After Deployment (www.afterdeployment.org) is a multi-featured, highly interactive online resource that provides personnel and their families with a wide range of information regarding areas identified as important by those returning from duty. Self-screening quizzes (“Check How You’re Doing”) allow personnel to track their progress after returning home. A number of narrated short “video workshop” tackle issues such as adjusting to war memories, dealing with depression, overcoming anger, controlling drugs and alcohol, improving relationships, succeeding at work and balancing your life. There are video stories from a range of actual veterans describing their own experiences and those of their cohorts. There are links to a variety of resources, including blogs, discussions and podcasts. All content has been carefully developed to reflect the best information available from substantive research and recognized best practices.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) has identified resources to begin building a similar set of resources to be accessed as an element of the Everyone Goes Home website. Intended to have a look and feel similar to After Deployment, it will reflect the best information and self-help resources available for firefighters and EMS personnel, including opportunities for chat and moderated discussion. You can learn more about the progress of this effort at www.everyonegoeshome.com.

Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki is the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

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