The Saint Lucia Fire Service Association has expressed concern over the impact on firefighters and ambulance personnel from repeatedly responding to traumatic events.
According to SLFS data, as of August 28 this year, there were 577 trauma responses to incidents involving vehicles and motorcycles.
The second most prominent trauma response category was physical assaults – 141, followed by 42 shootings, 40 stabbings, and 26 choppings.
“As a firefighter myself, I have seen the anxieties that come with colleagues responding to those incidents,” Fire Service Association Chairman Shane Felix told St. Lucia Times.
Felix explained that in addition to the impact of traumatic events on responders, there is concern regarding the automatic mechanisms some individuals employ to cope, including seeking to block out the stress.
He spoke of witnessing fatigue, anxiety, and burnout among his colleagues, noting that they want debriefing sessions after traumatic events responses.
In this regard, Felix welcomed the arrangement allowing firefighters to request counseling under a Ministry of the Public Service programme introduced a few years ago.
He also observed that through a recent Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) project, psychologists would be attached to the Saint Lucia Fire Service due to long delays in counselling under the Public Service Ministry arrangement.
“A firefighter may respond to two or three incidents within a week and, having requested counselling, may have to wait a week or two,” the Fire Service Association Chairman told St. Lucia Times.
Felix hoped that in the future, there would also be other initiatives to address fire service emergency responders’ health care and mental wellness.
