It is time to talk about mental health in the fire service. Riccardo la Torre introduces the union’s latest mental health project
We are facing a mental health crisis in the fire and rescue service. Many studies have shown that mental health issues are far more common for UK firefighters than the general population. 60% of fire service workers who took part in a 2019 survey by Mind, the mental health charity, reported having personal experience of mental health problems.
The most commonly experienced mental health issues were depression (39.3%), anxiety (39.1%) and PTSD (18.1%). Despite evidence that vast numbers of firefighters are grappling with their mental health, there has been little drive from leaders to investigate and address the full scale and causes of the problem.
That is why the FBU has commissioned the University of Central Lancashire to undertake one of the biggest research projects of its kind into mental health in the UK fire and rescue service.
The project is led by Dr Carolina Campodonico, who specialises in clinical psychology and has first-hand experience of the impact of working in the emergency services on mental health through her work as a paramedic in Italy. We want to better understand the type of support available to fire service employees, the scale and severity of the mental health crisis, and its underlying causes. With this knowledge that we can advocate for better mental health provision and tackle the issues causing this crisis head-on.
INCONSISTENT
In the first stages of the project, trade union reps and fire and rescue services have been surveyed on the policies and procedures in place to support employees with their mental health. Early findings have indicated that while there is support available, it is inconsistent across the UK. Funding for and the quality of mental health provision varies from fire service to fire service. Some employers signpost firefighters and fire control staff to their occupational health departments, which do not have mental health specialists.
This leaves firefighters facing a postcode lottery in the support available to them when they are at their most vulnerable. In comparison, countries like the USA, Canada and Australia are putting policies in place to support the mental health of first responders. The Australian government recently allocated $4.5m (£2.25m) to create a national framework to reduce suicide and improve mental health.
We need national standards across the board to ensure every fire and rescue service employee gets the support they need when they are struggling.
WANING RESILIENCE
Attending traumatic incidents is an unavoidable part of the job for firefighters. But while chief fire officers are keen to talk about the impact of trauma, they are less willing to acknowledge the avoidable stressors that could be contributing to the mental health crisis.
Fourteen years of austerity overseen by fire service leaders has left the fire service, and its workers, less resilient. Cuts to frontline jobs and resources means firefighters are over-stretched and over-worked, worrying about being able to do their job and save lives. This, coupled with years of stagnant pay leaving firefighters struggling to pay the bills and taking on second jobs to make ends meet, is likely contributing to stress and burnout.
Firefighters are also contending with fears that their job is making them ill. Our research findings released in January 2023 show that exposure to toxic contaminants is also contributing to higher rates of anxiety and depression among firefighters. Proper funding, pay, and protection from contaminants are part of the solution – but we need proper data so we can demand action on these issues.
Simply trying to make firefighters resilient to these hazards is not enough. We need to work to remove them as we would any other hazard in the workplace.
NEXT STEPS
In January, we will release a survey to gather information on firefighters’ experiences and the key causes of mental health problems in the fire service.
This is a crucial step in the project to understand the real causes leading to poor mental health in our occupation, and to advocate for a change of direction alongside standardised, best-practice mental health provision. We need a minimum of 10,000 serving, retired and out of trade firefighters to complete the survey to give an overall picture of the state of mental health in the UK fire and rescue service.
You can do your part to improve mental health in the fire service. Look out for the survey, complete it when it goes live, and tell your colleagues to fill it out too.
