Firefighter Mental and Behavioral Health Awareness Poster Released

NYSAFC recently developed a full-size, full-color "Firefighter Mental and Behavioral Health Awareness" poster. The poster was developed as part of the association’s Firefighter Mental and Behavioral Health Awareness Project, which is funded by the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board’s Training & Education Grant Program.

An illustration by renowned cartoonist Paul Combs is featured on the poster. The cartoon, entitled "Going Under," depicts the many stressors that can affect a firefighter’s mental and behavioral health. The poster also provides tips firefighters can use to deal with behavioral health issues.

The poster was recently mailed to every fire department in New York state. A smaller PDF version of the poster can be downloaded from the association website.

Additional information about firefighter behavioral health is also available on the website. Resources include tools for fire departments to use when screening for behavioral health problems and links to other websites that may assist firefighters and the families in dealing with a critical incident. The website also includes resources for mental and behavioral health providers that deal specifically with firefighter issues.

The Firefighter Mental and Behavioral Health Awareness Project also includes a training workshop, "Firefighter Behavioral Health: Protecting Our Own," available free of charge. To date, five workshops have been conducted in various locations in New York state. The two-hour training workshop presentation reviews the stressors unique to the fire service, the ways to recognize these stressors, and what can be done to protect fellow firefighters. From September 2014 to July 2015, 10 additional training workshops will be conducted. Details about the upcoming dates and locations will be posted on the association website in August 2014.

For more information about the poster or the Firefighter Mental and Behavioral Health Awareness Project, email NYSAFC Programs Assistant Sue Syzdek.

Special thanks to Paul Combs. Click here to see more of his artwork.