“More training around mental health”:

South Metro firefighters, emergency workers deal with added stress during pandemic

Sleepless nights. House fires. Heart attacks. Car crashes. Medical emergencies.

And now COVID-19.

It’s a firefighter’s job to respond when people need someone the most, but COVID-19 has added a new reality that few ever deemed possible. The added levels of stress from the pandemic that so many people feel is greatly magnified for firefighters

“We got into this line of work because we want to help in emergency situations,” said Jeff Hulley, a South Metro Fire Rescue EMS supervisor/firefighter. “I signed up to take the daily risks because that is what I love. But I didn’t sign up to pass that risk along to my 80-yearold grandmother.”

Many firefighters worry that they might be exposed on the job and bring the new coronavirus back to

and

emergency

responders. the station, inadvertently infecting their crew or taking it home to their families. Concerns run high that this respiratory illness could be a career-altering or -ending sickness.

Everyday decisions in the field now have become even more critical. Firefighters ask themselves, “Did we do the right thing? Did we make the best choices?”

Mental health is a big part of the new conversations at stations. Suicide, alcohol abuse and insomnia can plague first responders.

“We don’t want people going down unhealthy avenues as ways to deal with this new stress,” Hulley said. “We are talking with our crews on a daily basis. We are having more training around mental health than we ever did before and making sure we keep stress at manageable levels.”

“We will continue to strive to provide the best possible care that we always have every single day,” he added. “I am looking forward to a sense of hope rather than one of despair and anxiety. A sense of bravery rather than of fear. … We will move through this and get to the other side stronger and more resilient for what we have all been through.”

Donning personal protective equipment, South Metro Fire Rescue firefighter John Cronin, second from right, performs chest compressions on a patient as firefighters, from left to right, Roxy Ligrani, Chris Herrington, Eric Szabo and Jeff Hulley move a patient on a gurney to an ambulance to transport him to a hospital on May 5 in Littleton.

South Metro Fire Rescue Capt. Sheryl West uses an electrostatic sprayer to disinfect Medic 12 on April 19 in Littleton. Since the onset of the pandemic, South Metro Fire Rescue has created three “Decon” units to disinfect ambulances that have transported patients with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19.

Battalion Chief Andy Powell, left greets firefighter/ paramedic Josiah Christian, right, with an elbow bump after responding to a call May 5 in Littleton.