Good dogs help f iref ighters cope
A canine team brings emotional support to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
‘ For our firefighters, lifeguards, dispatchers, reaching out is sometimes difficult.... We typically are the helpers, not the ones who need help.’
— DAVID PICONE, San Diego Fire- Rescue Department battalion chief
SAN DIEGO — David Picone remembers the car accident some 20 years ago on Mother’s Day like it was yesterday.
Picone, who at the time was a paramedic in Riverside County, comforted an unharmed toddler who was in one of the cars. He held the girl in his arms as he looked for her mother. The mother was dead. Years later, the crash remains in Picone’s memory the same way other traumatic events haunt his colleagues. Along with the “day- in- and- day- out grind,” it all takes its toll, said Picone, now battalion chief with the San Diego Fire- Rescue Department.
Last week, the department introduced three new members to help with that: Bodie and Genoa, 2- year- old Labrador retrievers, and Ty, a 6- year- old mini goldendoodle. Each is paired with a chaplain. Together they will provide emotional support.
“It’s another resource that we can offer to our folks to cope with what they see day in and day out,” San Diego Fire- Rescue Chief Colin Stowell said.
Picone, who heads the f ire department’s Health and Safety Office, called the pairing “a natural fit,” given that chaplains — the department has 17 — visit f ire stations and attend debriefings in the aftermath of critical incidents, which can be traumatic.
Bodie, Genoa and Ty, who live with the chaplains, are trained to the standard of service dogs, although they aren’t considered service animals because their handlers are not disabled. They are what is known as “facility dogs” and are certif ied as crisis response canines.
The canine teams completed more than 120 hours of training and will be retested every three months in their first year and annually after that.
The teams build upon other wellness efforts, including a peer support program and counseling services — initiatives the fire department has expanded in recent years.
“There’s not one size that f its all when it comes to the mental health of our f irefighters,” Stowell said.
He said critical incidents in a f irefighter’s career can “trigger an acute response — or over the years, it builds up.”
Picone said the COVID- 19 pandemic has been an added stressor. First, there’s the concern of possibly bringing the coronavirus home. Then, with f ire stations closed to the community, there’s the isolation.
The stresses of the job have consequences. Studies have shown that occurrences of post- traumatic stress disorder, binge drinking and depression are higher among f irefighters than among the general population.
Stowell said suicide rates among f irefighters have been on the rise across the nation for nine years.
That hit close to home last month, when a Rancho Santa Fe Protection District captain who had worked in the f ire service for 31 years took his own life after what the agency said was a yearslong battle with work- related PTSD.
“As fire chiefs, we want to do whatever we can to never have our members experience that loss that Rancho Santa Fe felt,” said Stowell, who spoke at the captain’s memorial service this month.
Stowell and Picone acknowledged that f ire departments face a challenge in helping their staff cope: the stigma some perceive around needing help.
“The stigma is still real,” Picone said. “For our f iref ighters, lifeguards, dispatchers, reaching out is sometimes difficult, as it is for the rest of society, but much more for us f irst responders. We typically are the helpers, not the ones who need help.”
He and Stowell hope something as simple as a chaplain with a dog brings solace — “anything that can provide the comfort to allow somebody to lose their inhibition or lose the anxiety, or relax enough to forget that you are [ wearing a] superhero shield,” Picone said.
“It’s OK to be not OK,” he added.
Chaplain Betsy Salzman said her four- legged partner, Genoa, has been a welcome addition to the f ire department.
“We have not met a f iref ighter who has not gotten down” to pet her, she said.
Recently, Salzman and the Labrador retriever stood with f irefighters as they waited in line to get tested for COVID- 19.
“I don’t know what’s more stressful for us these days,” Salzman said.
Picone said he envisions the program expanding if other chaplains are able to take dogs into their homes.