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MN Firefighter Initiative

8 hours ago

An outstanding article on the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative and the great work being done statewide! Chief Erik Jankila and Chief Allen Lewis are two of many many advocates statewide for MnFIRE.

One point of clarification is that there are a number of key people who’ve been instrumental in launching and sustaining MnFIRE, not just me. When there is so much information to digest sometimes lesser details aren’t 100% accurate.

Here is the full article:

WHO WILL SAVE OUR HEROES?
By Carrie Manner Staff Writer cmanner@hibbingdailytribune.net 1 hr ago 0

Fire departments in uphill battle
Zach Yurczyk, a Virginia firefighter and paramedic was providing MnFIRE awareness training to crews at the Hibbing Fire Department Thursday morning. The Minnesota Firefighter Initiative aims to train all 22,000 firefighters across Minnesota, making them aware of their higher risks for cancer, cardiac isues and emotional trauma while educating about MnFIRE's peer-to-peer talk therapy.

Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a two-part report.

HIBBING— Firefighters are called to save lives 24/7/365. They run into burning buildings and assist law enforcement in the aftermath of accidents and crime scenes.

While many consider firefighters heroes, most never consider that the risks they encounter on duty can have lasting effects. And the vast majority of them — about 93 percent of the roughly 22,000 statewide — are volunteer paid-on call firefighters with regular jobs outside the fire service. Some receive no compensation whatsoever, yet all risk post traumatic stress injuries that can accumulate over time, as well as cardiac issues and cancer.

According to the Minneapolis-based organization Minnesota Firefighter Initiative — also known as MnFIRE — firefighters experience significantly higher rates of mental health challenges than the general population, manifesting as PTSD, depression, sleep disorders, substance abuse, suicidal ideation and death by suicide. At the same time, Minnesota ranks 45th nationwide in per-capita fire service spending, despite ranking 21st in population. With limited resources and a lack of public awareness, fire departments are strapped trying to take care of their own while rescuing others.

Witnessing firsthand the challenges the fire service has faced throughout his 32 year career in the field, George Esbensen says he formed MnFIRE in the Twin Cities area in 2017. The organization provides tools and shares resources for firefighters statewide while striving to raise public awareness in hopes of combating what Esbensen calls a “severe shortage” in funding. This week, Esbensen, along with MnFIRE’s Dr. Margaret Gavian, Ph.D. and members of the Hibbing and Virginia Fire departments spoke with the Hibbing Daily Tribune. They discussed the cultural shift impacting first responders and their challenges in this two-part report.

MnFIRE on the Range

On Wednesday morning, the smell of frying sausage filled the kitchen at the Virginia Fire Hall. Fire Chief Allen Lewis sat across the break table from Zach Yurczyk, VFD firefighter and paramedic, and Dustin Erickson, VFD fire captain — all in uniform and on a brief break between calls.

Both Yurczyk and Erickson are MnFIRE-trained instructors who have been bringing MnFIRE awareness training to departments throughout the state. Their goal is to teach the main challenges firefighters face while providing resources to help.

One of those resources is a free hotline monitored by more than 60 active and retired firefighters. Within minutes of calling, a first responder struggling with emotional or mental wellness can be connected with an anonymous peer who is trained to provide support. The ‘been there, done that’ aspect of the peer support line is what many feel makes it so valuable.

The support line is only one aspect of MnFIRE, yet some believe it’s the heartbeat of the organization. Lewis insists people like Yurczyk and Erickson, who are shedding light on the vital resource through awareness training, are on the frontlines in the fight against a lingering culture of silence among fire departments. Lewis told the HDT there’s a residual “hero complex” that needs to be wiped out so first responders can feel comfortable reaching out for help.

“I’ve worked with people in other fire departments that took their own life,” Lewis said. “There are more firefighters that took their own life last year than that died in the line of duty.”

He explained that the “bad calls,” particularly those involving children and domestic violence, tend to stay with people. Not seeking help because of the stigma that it makes them look weak could have long term effects on their mental wellbeing.

Erickson agreed.

“Prior to MnFIRE, nobody really considered responding to a call as a mental health injury,” Erickson said. “We might go home if we injure our back on duty, but we never considered a mental health injury where we could go home if we need to and seek therapy for it.”

Bygone era of ‘toughen up’

“We're teaching about how to cope with things and how to go over calls with each other after and lean on each other, which is something we’ve been improving upon,” Yurczyk said. “It’s something I think helps our mental health quite a bit.”

Earlier this week, Yurczyk was teaching MnFIRE awareness to the Hibbing Fire Department. During the class, Hibbing Fire Chief Erik Jankila told the HDT that he welcomes this new shift in the mindset and the publicity MnFIRE is receiving. After 24 years in the field, he said he has seen what turning a blind eye to emotional wellness can do.

“It’s not a negative against my predecessors, but the culture, the mindset and the stigma — I remember being very distinctly told that you're going to see a lot of bad things, things that regular people shouldn’t see and you’ve just got to toughen up,” Jankila said.

He continued, “We spent decades training on the things that kills us in the fire service surrounding building fires and we’ve gotten very good at preparing for those. But today physical buildings aren’t killing us at the levels they were before — what’s killing us is what burning inside the buildings. What we’re being subjected to.”

Dr. Gavian is a licensed psychologist in Minnesota and the expert overseeing the emotional wellness calls at MnFIRE. For the last 20 years she has worked in war zones, with firefighters after 9/11, with the school community after the Parkland, Fla. shooting last year, and with many others. She also specializes in men’s mental health and occasionally teaches classes at the University of Minnesota.

Gavian told the HDT that the hotline is the main service of MnFIRE and it “desperately” needs funding to grow as the more awareness trainings take place, the more the phone rings.

“People often wait until the last minute to ask for help when it’s really a crisis,” she said. “There’s a culture of ‘buck up, don’t share your feelings or ask for help.’ There’s a reason suicidality is so high — they don’t want to say they're struggling and by the time they ask for help it’s gotten so bad it takes a lot of resources to turn the ship around.”

She noted many who call in report their marriage is falling apart, they’re struggling with anger and often have rampant symptoms of PTSD. They’re also not sleeping, they’re having nightmares and traumatic memories are affecting their ability to perform at their best or even perform daily functions. The hotline was designed for handling such issues.

Gavian explained each caller receives an assessment and once completed, she reviews the information to determine if further professional help is needed, or if peer support is adequate.

Though retired firefighters and those near the end of their fire career are the most frequent callers, it’s not uncommon for to her speak with someone newer to the field. Even family members of firefighters call, which is something she’d like to see more of in terms of expanding support.

“They’re going in to try to save people,” Gavian said. “There are a lot of horrific things that the public doesn’t think about or doesn’t want to think about… Most people think of firefighters running into burning buildings and they don’t think of what firefighters are doing when, really, they’re doing combat work.”

Looking ahead

Esbensen, president of MnFIRE, explained that their current efforts, while fruitful, are merely a stepping stone on the path of getting fire responders the proper support.

“The challenge is mental health professionals, in general, are in short supply — especially when you get outside of the metro area,” he said. “Finding people who are specially trained in fire fighters and emotional trauma issues is even more rare.”

As the volunteers at MnFIRE work to expand their network of providers, the local fire departments feel heartened that they’re seeing progress on the horizon.

Lewis shared that in Virginia after a “bad call,” crews are now taking the time to debrief and talk about what they saw. There’s also a chaplain and stress management team they can call in. The realization that “isolation doesn’t lend itself to healing” is beginning to take root, Lewis said, acknowledging that true culture change begins at the top. As such, he works hard to be an example by offering his ear and directing crew members to the right support.

In Hibbing, a similar change is taking place. Jankila said that while the department may not have been “stellar” about detecting silent cries for help in the past, they are now pointed in the right direction. They also have a chaplain who drops by regularly and other resources available to crew members that he knows are utilized on occasion. This, he insisted, is a good thing.

“When a crew that was on a bad call comes back to the station, you’re hearing more and more coworkers reaching out in some way, shape or form subtly or blatantly asking if they’re OK,” Jankila said. “You didn’t hear that before. You’re starting to hear it now.”

He added: “I think we have a long way to go, but every day we try a little harder.”

The grant awarded to MnFIRE to spread the word about their services runs out June 30. Nearly half of the 700 departments have yet to receive the training. To learn more visit www.mnfireinitiative.com or contact Lewis at the VFD to schedule a training.

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