Did you know that more firefighters die by suicide than in the line of duty?
The secret is out. The thing that many of the firefighters that you love know, but aren’t talking about, is that mental health in the firefighter community is a serious battle.
Our goal is to shine the light on this struggle, advocate for more resources and training for firefighters, and to provide resources for firefighters and the stations in which they serve.
Booking Now: The Peer Support Team would love to come talk to your fire station about the realities of mental health challenges that must be faced by all firefighters. Schedule a Speaker today!
Get Resources
The OAPFF Peer Support Team will guide members who are struggling to resources which may be helpful in the path toward gaining assistance. Peer Support Team members have been trained in therapeutic communication, crisis intervention, and community resource networking.
FBHA’s goal is to provide behavioral health workshops to fire departments, EMS and Dispatch organizations across the globe, focusing on behavioral health awareness with a strong emphasis towards suicide prevention and promoting resources available to firefighters/EMS/Dispatch and their families.
Tommy’s Story
Lieutenant Tommy Bolin is a 27 year veteran in the fire service near Columbus, OH. He has served faithfully and well near the community that he grew up in and has loved his whole life.
Tommy is the prototypical fireman … loving, caring, tough, strong, the life-of-the-party.
But, a major part of his story was that he kept hidden was his battle with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Like many other firefighters, alcohol became a major coping mechanism, and it led him down some very dark roads. For many years, he suffered in silence.
Peer Support Team
The Peer Support Team is a group of trained, experienced firefighters who have your back. Our goal is to raise awareness inside every fire house about the mental health struggles and challenges that need to be met.
Members of our team meet with individuals who need to talk to someone, and we travel to fire houses to deliver trainings and talk about resources for dealing with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
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