Fight stigma: Fort Worth Fire Department pushes to provide firefighters with mental health help

Fight stigma: Fort Worth Fire Department pushes to provide firefighters with mental health help

Fort Worth firefighters stand and talk to each other at the scene of a house fire in December 2023. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)
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Lt. Zac Shaffer has spent over 17 years working as a firefighter. 

Over the years, he has responded to emergency medical service calls that include fatal car accidents, house fires, shootings, suicides and child abuse cases. 

As a firefighter, he’s been trained to show up, adapt and solve any problem in front of him. It’s about putting feelings aside in the moment, said Shaffer, who currently serves as the vice president of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association. 

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Incidents like these can take a toll on a firefighters’ mental health down the road. 

“For me, any incident, whether it’s abuse or death, especially with small kids is terrible,” he said. “I think anytime you have an event aligned perfectly with your own life, especially when they are the same age as your own children. It’s tough to process.” 

Fort Worth firefighters arrive at a single story house on Avenue G at 2:20 p.m. to extinguish a heavy fire, Dec. 20, 2023. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)

Like Shaffer, other firefighters struggle with mental health disorders, including PTSD, delayed trauma responses, substance abuse and suicide ideation. Delayed trauma responses take on a variety of characteristics: persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, nightmares, anxiety and depression, and avoidance of emotions or activities that are associated with trauma. 

The Fort Worth Fire Department has not had anyone active die from suicide. Still, the department is fighting the stigma around mental health and pushing its firefighters to seek help before it’s too late. 

‘Be there for them’

As mental health issues continue to be of concern among firefighters, Cliff Weaver, chaplain with the Fort Worth Fire Department, tries to serve as a shoulder to lean on for his colleagues. 

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Weaver serves as a counselor, chaplain and friend to over 1,000 active duty firefighters within the Fort Worth Fire Department. Sometimes, he serves as a liaison between firefighters and the chief, advocating when one of them needs a change of pace. He succeeded Brent Sanderson in the role in early May. 

“When the firefighters are going through something they don’t know what to do about, like divorce or a family member passing away, they call me and I get to be there for them in that way,” he said. 

Cliff Weaver is the chaplain with the Fort Worth Fire Department. He has worked as a firefighter for over 22 years. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)

For those firefighters who don’t feel comfortable speaking to Weaver, the establishment of peer-to-peer support groups have found success within the department. It allows firefighters to convene and seek guidance from each other.

When a situation is beyond his expertise, Weaver connects firefighters with licensed mental health professionals outside the department, specifically when it relates to substance abuse or suicide ideation. 

More firefighters die from suicide each year than in the line of duty, according to the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. 

Up to 29% of firefighters engage in alcohol abuse, and as many as 10% of them may be currently abusing prescription drugs, according to the National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health. 

“There’s a tremendous amount of trauma, so there’s different coping mechanisms [firefighters] reach out to when they’re stuck,” said Weaver. 

What are mental health services for Fort Worth firefighters?

Firestrong crisis line – 844-525-3473

3FTL (provides support, guidance and accountability for first responders) – jennifer@3FTL.com

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 24/7 mental health support line – 800-662-4357

It is recommended firefighters seek a trauma-informed licensed counselor who is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. It is used as a treatment for PTSD.

Recently, the department has seen more of its firefighters seek mental health services. Even the new class of firefighters that come into the department are more open to counseling, said Shaffer. 

“[Weaver] and I started seeing a lot more mental health referrals in the last year,” said Shaffer. “People are more willing to go talk to somebody. The department has done a good job trying to institute some resiliency.” 

But, it’s difficult for the department to track improvements resulting from its initiatives. The Fort Worth Fire Department does not actively collect its own mental health data, said public information officer Craig Trojacek. 

“Hopefully, we will be better prepared to track these issues,” he said. 

Some Fort Worth firefighters still hesitate to accept mental health help. It’s all rooted in a culture of toughness, said Shaffer. 

“We’re just so used to solving other people’s problems that we forget that it’s OK for us to ask for help,” Shaffer said. “We push aside any feelings and put them in a box. But just because it’s in the box doesn’t mean you put it away appropriately.”

A firefighter makes her way to the north staircase of the Fort Worth City Center, 301 Commerce St. About 200 firefighters, police and first responders climbed the City Center stairs in honor of victims in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)

‘We need more’

Moving forward, Shaffer hopes to see more of the fire department’s budget funds allocated toward internal mental health services. 

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“It’s imperative that the chaplain position remains a sworn position, because they have the leeway to act as needed without worrying about ramifications, but we need more,” he said. 

Sanderson, the previous chaplain, told the Fort Worth Report last year he hoped the department would hire a social worker who could spearhead wellness programs. It has not. 

In August, the city of Fort Worth’s fire ad-hoc committee recommended the Fort Worth Fire Department fund 76 new fire department staff positions with its $193 million budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. 

The new position types would vary. Twenty would work in the fire department’s operations division, and another 50 would work in non-operations, which can include things like dispatch, training and prevention. Three new battalion chiefs would be among those hired. 

The city of Fort Worth recommended the addition of two new positions at the fire department that could serve as new public information officers or chaplains. There has been no specific mention of a licensed mental health worker being included in the budget, said Weaver. 

“We’re starting to see things change with mental health, but funding is lacking,” he said. “Things tend to be a big deal when something really horrific happens. I don’t want to have to wait for something to happen, like suicides, for us to get more help.”  

David Moreno is the health reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy 

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