The City of Las Vegas’s Fire & Rescue is working toward addressing firefighter suicide rates and mental health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance report firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue’s behavioral health administrator, Jeff Dill, said the national suicide rate for firefighters has increased. Statewide, the number has fluctuated.
The department has instituted new coping mechanisms to address the alarming trend. Before taking their final exams, recruits do yoga to help relieve stress before their final exams. “It allows us to decompress,” said recruit Wade Jacobs. “To get stress off our shoulders and go into our finals with a level mind and body.”