Program focuses on mental health of first responders

The City of Forrest City is working to implement an employee assistance program in an effort to help first responders improve their mental health.

Forrest City Fire Department Chief Shane Dallas said the program is used in number of different communities and businesses.

"There is something that a lot of communities have that is called an EAP, which is an employee assistance program," said Dallas. "It's not just a first responder thing. A lot of businesses, companies and governments use them as well. It is a benefit for people who are going through things and feel like they need to talk to someone about them."

According to Dallas, the program will provide first responders with a professional to talk to in order to help them cope with the day-to-day environment of their jobs.

"This is a program to help prevent issues from becoming larger issues," said Dallas. "We are working to put it in place to try and keep people from trying to cope with things through alcohol and drug abuse and stop the issues before it causes marital problems and things like that. It is heightened in the first responder community due to the things that first responders see on a daily basis."

Dallas said that sometimes, what happens on a daily basis for first responders sticks with them after the call is over.

"These are things like people suffering rather it be from violence, accidents, loss of homes or loss of life," said Dallas. "Basically, all of the tragic things that happen in a community or in society. First responders are there trying to help and trying to cope, and sometimes it sticks to those who respond. We are trying to create this program to offer a hotline or something for first responders to get the help that they need."

Dallas said he has brought in a professional to speak with crew members on occasion after traumatic experiences.

"We have done something similar in years past when we have had large incidents," said Dallas. "For instance, in 2007 there was a large bus wreck out on the interstate where several people were killed. It was a pretty traumatic thing that we were all out there dealing with. Even though we did not have professionals to talk to, we talked to each other.

“Since then, we have had a few incidents within the community that were pretty horrific in which I did reach out to have someone come in and sit down with the crew who was involved in it to talk about it,” Dallas continued. “The guys said it did help to get it out of their heads and off their chests. We are developing something that would help keep us from having to search around to find someone they can talk to."

Dallas said this program is definitely needed in order to help with the issues caused by the stresses of the job.

"During the last legislative session, legislation was passed that calls for municipalities to set these programs up to help first responders in need," said Dallas. “We are working to put something like that in place here in Forrest City in the near future. I definitely think it is needed. The guys and girls out in the community seeing the things they see need an avenue for dealing with that.

"We see fatal accidents, murders, house fires with casualties and things like what happened with the shooting at Walmart, and it is hard to justify the whys," Dallas continued. "Did I do everything I could do? Things like that. We are just trying to put this program in place for those who don't know how to deal with it. The typical coping mechanism for not just us, but people, is sometimes negative – drinking, drugs or taking it out on your family when you go home and causing marital issues – and we don't want that to happen."

According to Dallas, the issues and stresses can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in first responders, and in some cases across the country, cause suicide.

"The things we see can lead to PTSS in first responders," said Dallas. "I know from the fire department side of things that throughout the state, I know of several instances of suicide based off of job-related issues and things as well as across the country. It is a serious issue that nobody wants to talk about. It is trying to deal with these things and not being able to. We have had calls here recently that we have needed to talk about. You can tell when they come in when something is bothering them. It is not like it is something that we are waiting to happen; it happens all of the time."

Dallas said there are measures in place currently for first responders to talk about the issues, however, since he is not a therapist or psychiatrist, a professional could help in many more ways.

"When I first joined the fire service 27 years ago, it was ‘if it bothers you, you don't need to be in this job,’” said Dallas. "It is okay to talk about it. Sometimes you just need to get it out of your head. I keep a picture here in my office that says 'I wish my mind could forget what my eyes have seen,’ and it is very true. You don't want it to just sit around and let it bounce around in your head. Sometimes you need to talk about it, so we will talk around the kitchen and do what we call a debrief. We talk about how the call came in and what we did and then we will discuss what went well and what we could do to improve. A lot of that helps, but sometimes that's not enough.”