The City of South Fulton has brought in counselors to lend their community’s bravest more support.
Suicide is a big issue among firefighters and other first responders due to the horrors they often have to witness. "It could be a car wreck, it could be a cardiac arrest, shooting, a building collapse," said South Fulton Chief Chad Jones. "Then we compound that over and over."
Firefighters and police officers are more likely to from suicide than in the line of duty, according to an article published in April by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The stress and mental anguish of the job is a big factor.
Chief Jones said he knows what it’s like losing one of his guys to suicide. It happened during his previous tenure at Atlanta Fire Department several years ago.
it’s not only devastating to obviously the individual’s family, but we are a family too," he said, adding that the stigma around mental health made it more difficult to talk about.