Articles | Page 6

Firefighter mental health: Stop sucking it up

Despite the encouraging trend to address mental health, there is still resistance and misconception There are times when coincidences are just that — unrelated events. Other times they can be more telling of trends. Let me explain. Just the other day we were putting the final touches on the latest…

Traumatic Brain Injuries: Risks, Treatment and Prevention

By Alexander Peter Ruckh, FASNY Health and Wellness Committee The FASNY Health and Wellness Committee would like to remind FASNY members of the correlation between winter fire/EMS operations and TBIs, or traumatic brain injuries. If you watch football, you know that traumatic brain injuries are a very hot topic. NFL…

How heart disease ended my firefighting career

As I sit beside the warmth of the fireplace this evening reflecting on another holiday season, I am amazed that it has been 8 years since major heart surgery ended my firefighting career, but saved my life. I count the many blessings my family and I have enjoyed since that…

How to Stop Eating Your Emotions…..

If we were all able to eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’re sufficiently full, we’d be the right weight for our individual bodies. Our bodies are equipped with innate sensors telling us when we need to eat and when we are satiated. So what gets in the way…

Tell Me Why …

As I change my desk calendar to reflect the new year, I have come to appreciate every day I am alive … more than you will ever know. It’s been just over two years since being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. To tell you that my life as a firefighter…

Answering the Call for Winter Wellness

0030 hours, December 31, 2001. On a bitterly cold night, you just came home from celebrating the new year and got into your nice, warm bed. Instead, the call comes over: “6500: Signal 10 House Fire, Code 91.” You throw the covers off, jump out of bed and into your…

November Is Tobacco Awareness Month

November 19, 2015, is the Great American Smoke-Out, a day designated to support the efforts of any tobacco user who is ready to take a first step toward quitting. While each person’s battle with tobacco is unique, this day reminds us that we all have a stake in helping our…

PTSD – Do I Have It?

By Michael Healy Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders is an exceedingly common occurrence due to the nature of the job. Repeated exposure to senseless violence, abuse, and the most horrific and tragic death scenes contributes to the development of this serious and intrusive…

Make Suicide Prevention a Health and Safety Priority at Your Department

By Sally Spencer-Thomas, CEO & Co-Founder, Carson J Spencer Foundation Many things related to fire service culture can contribute to behavioral health issues that can lead to suicide – trauma, stress, substance abuse, “tough-guy” culture – but one common factor is what has been coined “psychache.” Psychache is the unimaginable…

Is Your Department Up for the 9/11 Challenge?

A healthy firefighter is everyone's fight, so FASNY urges our members to take this challenge to do something good for yourself and the fire service in observance of 9/11. Watch this video for some ideas, get your department involved and post your photos on our Facebook page!