ORLANDO, Fla. — Every day, firefighters and police respond to calls, helping people when they need it the most. But everything those first responders experience in the process can take a mental toll over time. Statistics from the Ruderman Family Foundation show more first responders die from suicide each year than in the line of duty.

What You Need To Know

  • Statistics from the Ruderman Family Foundation show more first responders die from suicide each year than in the line of duty

  • UCF RESTORES is now expanding a program that connects first responders with other first responders to ensure they get the treatment they need from mental health counselors

  • The peer-to-peer program expands from firefighters to also law enforcement beginning in July 2023

UCF RESTORES is now expanding a program that connects first responders with other first responders to ensure they get the treatment they need from mental health counselors who are trained how to treat first responders.

“It’s also actually being on the job with law enforcement or with fire so they really understand what this profession is like and therefore are better able to treat it,” said Deborah Beidel, the Executive Director of UCF RESTORES.

Dustin Hawkins has responded to calls he says he’ll never forget. Hawkins has worked as a first responder for Indian River County Fire Rescue for two decades. He also serves the department as a chaplain.

“That marker is where that fatality happened, or this bridge is where that loss of life occurred, or this island is where this family’s life was forever changed, and it leaves those marks on your memory,” said Hawkins.

And those marks can sometimes be too much for even the mental health counselors that firefighters seek for help.

Hawkins says some licensed counselors have refused to treat firefighters.

“Just getting to that place of just asking for help, took a great deal of strength and vulnerability and challenge just to get to that office,” said Hawkins. “So now when they feel like the person they were asking help from has been traumatized by their mere expression, they shut completely down and that’s how we lose a lot of our first responders.”

Hawkins knows loss first-hand. He says a fellow firefighter who had helped him recover from a traumatizing experience on the job took his own life.

“There are far too many that have been buried behind this badge and not come out the other side, intact or whole,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins helped UCF RESTORES establish redline rescue. It trains firefighters to serve as peer supporters who can encourage their fellow firefighters to get help. The app uses diagrams of scenarios — real-life situations — to help first responders recognize if they need help.

“First thing that we always get is I didn’t even realize I had a problem with substances, or I didn’t even realize I was struggling with anxiety,” said Hawkins. “And we say, ‘well, why didn’t you know?’ And they say ‘well, until I saw myself in these whiteboards, until I realized that I was doing some of these things, somebody would’ve said I had anxiety but I wouldn’t have believed it.’”

Retired NYPD officer Nancy Rosado is now working with UCF RESTORES to expand the program from firefighters to law enforcement officers. Rosado works as an outreach consultant with the program.

“To date, we haven’t adequately addressed this situation,” said Rosado.

Rosado says it can take cops longer to admit they need help, and get the help they need.

“Firefighters eat, drink, sleep together, there is more of a family atmosphere, whereas cops are out on their own and it’s that independent I can handle it thing,” said Rosado. “So culturally, cops struggle a little more when it comes to admitting they need help, and admitting they need professional help.”

After losing dozens of colleagues to suicide, which forced him to seek mental health treatment for himself, Hawkins says he knew he had to urge fellow first responders to rethink how they help each other. 

“And as soon as we were able to overcome that, you will provide support for a citizen in need that’s struggling with substance misuse, that’s struggling with suicidal ideation or suicide attempt, why won’t you do that for your own,” said Hawkins. 

It is progress Hawkins hopes will save the lives of people who put their lives on the line to save others.

UCF RESTORES says more than 75% of first responders no longer meet the diagnosis for PTSD after the program’s three-week treatment. It plans to fully rollout its blueline program specifically for law enforcement in July 2023.