Behavioral Health Interventions in the Fire Service: Stories from the Firehouse

Abstract

Firefighters face a number of occupational risks including the impact of being exposed to traumatic experiences. Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) was previously introduced as a viable option for intervention postincident; however, concern has been raised about the efficacy of such debriefings. This study uses focus groups and key informant interviews with a national sample of firefighters to examine firefighters’ perceptions about behavioral health interventions. Although some firefighters reported positive experiences with CISD, other personnel reported finding the intervention intrusive and reported feeling more distressed after the intervention than before. Personnel reported experiencing benefits from peer support and using the crew for bonding after negative incidents as particularly useful. Findings suggest that while components (e.g., peer debriefing) of CISD may be useful, caution is warranted in employing the CISD model as designed.

KEYWORDS:

• firefighter
• first responder
• behavioral health
• critical incident stress management