Recognize: Honor our Unseen Battles

Each year, Firefighter Safety Stand Down reminds us to take a pause, to focus on training and education of a particular topic. In 2023 the focus was on lithium-ion batteries and 2024 the focus was getting back to the basics of training. This year’s Firefighter Safety Stand Down theme, Break the Stigma: Behavioral Health RESET.

Recognize the Unseen

Through the course of our careers, we are trained to conduct size-ups, anticipate hazards, and perform technical skills under pressure. But when do we receive training to conduct internal size-ups – or how to check in with our brothers and sisters, not just for their gear, but their mental wellness?

It is no secret that many of our brothers and sisters suffer with PTSI/D, anxiety, depression, substance use, and burnout. These are lived realities that suffer with silently. You won’t always see it, whether it be sitting with them on the tail board or at the kitchen table drinking coffee. This is why knowing our people and recognition matters.

Everyone’s Experience is Different

Everyone processes trauma differently, this is a fact. What hits one firefighter hard may slide off another. There is cumulative toll; trauma exposure, missed events/holidays, or sleep deprivation that builds differently in each of us.

Recognizing and acknowledging this truth will change our culture. Release the judgment and hold safe space for one another. We must stop comparing how we handle difficult calls and acknowledge that managing mental wellness isn’t one-size-fits-all. We each bring our own background, capacity, and coping tools with us, some of which aren’t the best for processing the traumas we will experience.

And let’s not forget even those who seem the strongest may be silently struggling.

What Can You Do Today?

Recognition isn’t just about awareness; it’s about taking action. Use this Safety Stand Down to:

• Check in with yourself. When’s the last time you did an internal size-up?

• Check in with your crew. A simple “How are you really doing?” can open a door.

• Acknowledge that presence, peer support, coaching, and counseling are tools to develop strength and resilience.

Listen without fixing. Sometimes, recognition starts by just sitting in the discomfort with someone else.

A New Kind of Size-Up

As a battalion chief, I often ask my crews: “How may I best support you today?” This singular question creates a sacred space with the crew to have honest conversations. We need to focus on preparing ourselves, not just for the call.

Recognize everyone has invisible battles that they take on silently. Believe that each person’s story is unique. Move forward with strength that lifts others up, not by pushing harder, but by being truly curious.

Stay safe. Be human. Connect with yourself and each other.

The article was written by Battalion Chief CJ Dickinson (a 26-year veteran of the Fire & Emergency Service community)

Image retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaldoche/4771465356