They Now Fight Suicides-The Province Paper

THEY NOW FIGHT SUICIDES

Firefighters and other first responders battle ‘epidemic’ in their ranks

• The Province
• 30 Jul 2015
• KENT SPENCER kspencer@theprovince.com twitter.com/@kentspencer2

STEVE BOSCH/PNG

Surrey fire captain Mike McNamara says the department was ‘emotionally thin’ after the recent deaths of two members, part of a wave of suicides by first responders.

Kevin Hegarty was the kind of firefighter who “wanted to help everybody” and was a tireless speaker on behalf of mental health issues.

But sometimes the helpers need help. On March 1, Hegarty, dispirited and alone, couldn’t even help himself. He took his own life.

“Kevin and I were great friends, but he had a bad call 10 years ago and had become distant,” said Surrey fire captain Mike McNamara.

Hagerty, 53, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Seven weeks later, another Surrey firefighter committed suicide, throwing the department’s 420 firefighters into turmoil.

McNamara said the department was “emotionally thin for a while.” “We still are,” he said. The two Surrey deaths are part of a wave of suicides sweeping the country among first responders — fire, police and paramedics.

So far this year there have been 26, according to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.

A total of 27 first responders took their own lives in 2014; most years, the number is around 20, said Michael Hurley, a Burnaby captain and president of the B.C. Professional Firefighters Association.

“I believe it is an epidemic,” Hurley said. “I think many of our members are in crisis.”

Shocked into action, firefighters are talking about stress, participating in workshops and raising money for treatment.

Retired Vancouver firefighter Colin Thompson is undertaking a bike ride this summer to Colorado Springs, Colo., where a large memorial wall pays homage to North American first responders killed in the line of duty.

Thompson has an agreement with Vancouver General Hospital to start up a mental health program costing $70,000 which will encourage traumatized personnel to seek treatment.

“Stress is an item that has been ignored far too long,” said Thompson, a 30-year veteran who once used a ladder seven storeys high to help rescue a portly woman from a burning building.

“Fire chiefs need to go to their city halls and ask for a lot more funding to deal with this issue,” he said.

To find out more about Thompson’s ride and how to contribute, go to ptsdfireride.ca.

Hegarty’s downfall began in 2005 after he responded to a call where a slight 16-year-old male was murdered at Surrey Central SkyTrain station by a couple of thugs. McNamara said the beating was prompted because onlookers didn’t like the look of his jacket.

He believes Hagerty got too close to the grief-stricken family and couldn’t come to terms with the fact one of his alleged killers was never convicted. His personality had changed over the years.

“Kevin lived it. He couldn’t sleep and was angry and unreasonable,” he said. “Even my friendship with him struggled. He talked publicly about mental health, but would break down and cry.”

A picture shows a cheerful-looking man with dark hair. He left behind a wife, from whom he was separated, and young son.

Surrey fire chief Len Garis said Surrey is changing the way it approaches stress disorders; the department recently facilitated a two-day workshop with health professionals that was attended by 24 firefighters.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t exactly prepared for this,” Garis said.

“We have assistance programs but they may not be tailored as tightly as they could be to first responders’ needs. We are learning in light of the two most recent tragedies.”

Traumatic events are witnessed more than 100 times during a firefighter’s career, said Thompson.

The problem is that big, strong men and women don’t usually want to show any weaknesses.

McNamara once fought unsuccessfully to save a four-year-old boy who was severely burned in a barbecue fire. “I worked on him. I watched his chest go up and down ... I never got over that,” he said.

Thompson’s ride is aimed at creating a program that can pass the “pajama test,” where a mind-numbed firefighter can receive an online therapy program at home that begins the health process.

He leaves on Aug. 13 on a monthlong, 3,000-km ride to Colorado Springs, where a remembrance ceremony will be attended by 5,000 firefighters on Sept. 19.