Below is a self-screening for suicide ideations for firefighters/EMT.  Please circle either Y= Yes, or N=No.  When you have completed screening please review your score at the end of the screening.

1. Are you feeling like a burden to your family, friends, or Fire Company or EMS organization? Y/N
2. Do you feel the world would be a better place without you in it? Y/N
3. Have you started to isolate yourself from others in the firehouse or EMS location? Y/N  At Home? Y/N
4. Have you found yourself turning to alcohol or other addictive behaviors to make yourself feel better?  Y/N
5. Have you or someone close to you noticed that your sleeping patterns have changed? Y/N
6. Are you thinking, “What’s the use?” when going to the firehouse or responding on calls? Y/N
7. Do you find yourself thinking about or performing unnecessary risks while at a fire scene or on an emergency incident? Y/N
8. Have you found an increased or new interest in risky activities outside the firehouse/EMT organization such as: sky-diving, reckless motorcycle riding or purchasing guns? Y/N
9. Are you displaying unexplained angry emotions or have you been disciplined recently for anger towards other firefighters/EMTs?      Officers?     Or the Public within the last few months? Y/N                                                                                                                                    (Any option will receive a circle of Yes)
10. Have you been told that “you have changed” by:  Friends?     Family?    Fellow coworkers? Y/N                                                                                                                      (Any option will receive a circle of Yes)
11. Does your family have a history of a suicide? Y/N
12. Do you have a history of feeling depressed? Y/N
13. Do you have feelings of hopelessness? Y/N
14. Do you feel like killing yourself? Y/N
15. Have you created plans to kill yourself? Y/N
16. Have you recently attempted to kill yourself? Y/N

Scoring: Total the amount of (Yes) circled.
Score:__________
If you circled question 14, 15 or 16, SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY by Dialing 911
or  calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
or calling the Share the Load Program 1-888-731-3473
Once you have reached one of the above, call a trusted family member, friend, chaplain, or counselor.
Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA) recommends that if a person answers YES to at least three of these questions, it would be recommended that you contact a local Mental Health Care Professional that deals with firefighters/EMTs that suffer from suicidal ideations and depression.  If you need assistance in finding a counselor in your area, contact FBHA for further information at 847-209-8208.
COURTESY OF FIREFIGHTER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ALLIANCE

PTSD & AddictionSubstance abuse is extremely common among individuals who have experienced a traumatic event.
Most often, this occurs as a result of patients self-medicating in order to alleviate symptoms associated with PTSD, including depression, anxiety and panic. To accommodate the needs of these patients, many rehabilitation facilities offer various treatments and therapies that can treat both post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction to drugs and alcohol.

50% of those who suffer from PTSD also abuse alcohol
Dependency on nicotine is nearly twice as common in people with PTSD
People with PTSD are 3x more likely to abuse drugs than people without PTSD
​

“Just Get Over It!”Have you ever had someone tell you to just get on with your life after you have experienced a traumatizing event?Do you feel distant from others and have “out of body” flashbacks of your trauma? Does it feel impossible to ever get over the sudden death of your loved one, the sexual assault, or the war experience? You may suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, a common and debilitating mental illness.
When we experience something traumatic or life threatening, it is normal for our bodies to activate our “fight for flight” response to deal with the overwhelming situation. This is a healthy response to protect our bodies. We may for a time feel sad, upset, or frightened. But after a period of time, the pain diminishes, and our lives return to normal.
When Your Life UnravelsWhen you suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, the “fight for flight” response becomes badly damaged.Instead of the body and mind returning to a normal state after a terrifying event, the mind goes on overload, and PTSD symptoms start to develop.
If this has happened to you, you may find that the trauma you experienced is nearly impossible to get over on your own. You may feel a range of overwhelming emotions such as unexplained anger, depression, anxiety, and irritability. You may feel extremely tired, hyper-aroused, or have trouble digesting your food.
Sometimes it is difficult for you to understand that the symptoms you are experiencing are actually posttraumatic stress disorder because the trauma may have been experienced years ago, even in your childhood, and it is almost impossible for you to identify exactly what is causing your life to unravel.
You Are Not AloneIt is important to realize that anyone can suffer from PTSD, and roughly 8% of all Americans (that’s up to 7 million people!) will have PTSD during their lifetime.You are not alone in suffering from PTSD, and it is not a sign of mental weakness to have PTSD. There are many factors that cause PTSD to develop (such as personality traits you were born with and how your brain responds to stress). Many people don’t understand how complex PTSD is and wonder can PTSD cause addiction?
If you find yourself suffering from these three cluster symptoms for over one month, please seek professional help.

• Recreating the traumatic event over and over through flashbacks or nightmares.
• Avoiding people, places, or activities that trigger memories of the event.
• Hyper-vigilance and attentiveness all the time for danger.

The PTSD Alliance is here for you, and our member organizations offer many helpful resources to overcome PTSD and substance problems. Whether you are a child or parent, man or woman, veteran or civilian, there is help for you. Please don’t suffer from PTSD alone. You can heal and go on to lead a healthy life.

Brief Suicide Prevention Interventions in Acute Care Settings May Reduce Subsequent Suicide AttemptsSeptember 16, 2020
​National Institute of Mental Health

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and rates of suicide have been rising in each of the last 15 years. Research has shown that more than one-third of people who die by suicide had a health care encounter in the week before their death, and half within a month before their death. Because of this, health care organizations are well positioned to provide suicide prevention interventions during patient visits. However, clinical teams require evidence-based interventions to address suicide risk directly and ensure that patients transition to ongoing mental health care.
In a research project led by Stephanie K. Doupnik, M.D., and supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers conducted a systematic review of studies (called a meta-analysis) on clinical trials of brief suicide prevention interventions to determine how effective these interventions might be in acute care settings, such as hospitals, emergency departments, and urgent care centers. Their findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.
The team included 14 studies in the meta-analysis, representing a total of 4,270 patients. The three primary outcomes they examined were: subsequent suicide attempts, linkage to follow-up care, and depression symptoms at follow-up.
The included studies evaluated brief suicide prevention interventions to promote ongoing mental health care and reduce subsequent suicide attempts. The researchers identified studies that included four main components in their interventions: brief contact interventions, care coordination, safety planning interventions, and other brief therapies.

• Brief contact interventions included telephone calls, postcards, and letters.
• Care coordination included scheduling outpatient mental health appointments, mobile crisis response team evaluations, as well as outpatient mental health appointments and collaborating with patients’ families to reduce barriers to attending appointments.
• Safety planning interventions included components such as identifying family, friends, and social places that can distract from suicidal thoughts; identifying individuals who can help during a suicidal crisis; and listing mental health professionals and urgent care services to contact during a suicidal crisis.
• Brief therapeutic interventions included other interventions that used a variety of therapeutic techniques to reduce a patient’s likelihood of self-harm.

Looking at the primary outcomes of the studies together, the researchers found that brief suicide prevention interventions were associated with reduced subsequent suicide attempts and increased linkage to follow-up care. The researchers found that the brief suicide prevention interventions in these studies were not associated with statistically significant reductions in depression symptoms. The most common component among the interventions in the studies was promoting connectedness via engagement with health care clinicians and with the patient’s community.
An important future research direction, the researchers wrote, is to identify and test implementation strategies for brief suicide prevention interventions in acute care settings. To do this, the authors suggest that health care settings need robust systems to identify patients with suicide risk, and that clinical teams require access to mental health professionals with skills and expertise to provide brief interventions. They also suggested future research could investigate implementing these kinds of interventions in acute care settings outside of traditional health care, like jails and crisis homeless shelters.