Florida First Responders Covered for PTSD!

Gov. Scott in Tampa today to sign first responder bill 
WFLA News 
Avery Cotton 
March 27, 2018 

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Governor Rick Scott will be in Tampa today to sign a bill into law that aims to help Florida first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Florida lawmakers passed the bill extending workers' compensation benefits for first responders to include treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The Florida House of Representatives voted unanimously for the legislation (SB 376) . 

Lawmakers have heard stories of firefighters and police officers who have taken their own lives or can no longer do their jobs because of repeated exposure to horrific deaths and tragedies, but they don't have benefits that include treatment for PTSD. 

Right now workers' compensation benefits only cover physical injuries. read more here

Florida First Responders PTSD Bill Being Signed Tuesday!

Gov. Scott to sign PTSD legislation into law at Tampa Firefighter Museum
ClickOrlando.com
By Mike Holfeld - Investigative Reporter
March 26, 2018

News 6 will join first responders, their families for special ceremony

Gov. Rick Scott will sign legislation Tuesday that will provide first responders with wage compensation as they receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Senate Bill 376, approved unanimously by both the Senate and the House, will provide workers compensation benefits, “Providing that, under certain circumstances, post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by a first responder is an occupational disease compensable by workers’ compensation benefits.”

The new law eliminates the mandate that a physical injury must accompany the PTSD diagnosis.

During a special ceremony honoring state fire fighters in Tallahassee earlier this month, Scott took a moment to honor first responders lost in the line of duty and to PTSD.

“I want to thank all firefighters for the sacrifices they make,” he said. “I intend to sign it (SB 376) as soon as it reaches my desk.”

Scott and Chief Financial Officer/State Fire Marshall Jimmy Patronis will join dozens of first responders and their families at a special bill signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon at the Tampa Firefighter Museum.

In an exclusive interview, Patronis said the stories covered by News 6 along with his meeting with first responders and their families, inspired him to make the PTSD law his top priority.

“Suicide in that profession is five times higher than the rest of the United States. I hate that those sacrifices had to take place in order to bring this issue to light,” he said.

Jessica Realin, wife of Pulse first responder Gerry Realin, has been an instrumental force in pushing for PTSD legislation.
read more here

PTSD: 81 percent of firefighters fear they will be seen as weak or unfit for duty

Firefighters, including Detroit crews, suffer from PTSD, other mental health issues as result of job
95 percent say they experience critical stress while working
Click On Detriot
By Karen Drew - Reporter/Anchor, Amber Ainsworth
March 15, 2018

The survey also found that 81 percent of firefighters fear they will be seen as weak or unfit for duty if they talk about the emotional toll of their job, and 87 percent said it keeps them from getting the help they need.

DETROIT - A survey conducted by NBC New York and the International Association of Firefighters found that firefighters are battling more than just fires.

Firefighters struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.

"We suffer from the same challenges the general public does -- financial issues, marital issues. Now you compound that with the horror that we see every day, day in and day out. It adds up and eventually takes its toll," Jim Brinkely of the International Association of Firefighters said.

Ninety-five percent of the 7,000 surveyed said they experience critical stress on the job, and three quarters of the the firefighters said it leaves them with unresolved issues. Many of them, 71 percent, have trouble sleeping, and 65 percent of them are constantly haunted by bad memories.

"We're no different than someone on the battlefield [with] the death and the destruction that we witness," Derrick Foxhall, a 20-year-veteran of the Detroit Fire Department, said.
read more here

Connecticut Police lose weapons if they seek help for PTSD? Seriously?

Police Seek Exemption From Gun Law For Mental Health Treatment
CT News Junkie
by Christine Stuart
Mar 8, 2018

The bill the officers are supporting would carve out an exemption for law enforcement and allow them to get their service weapon back even if they sought mental health treatment. At the moment, no matter who you are in Connecticut, if you voluntarily check yourself into an in-patient mental health facility you get your firearms taken away for six months.

HARTFORD, CT — Four. That’s the number of police officers in Connecticut who have taken their own lives over the past seven months.

And that’s only the number a group of law enforcement officers at the state Capitol Tuesday to testify knew about. There’s no data on police suicide collected by the state. The Federal Bureau of Investigations collections information about deaths in the line of duty, but not suicide.

James Rascati, a clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Yale University, said he’s personally dealt with the suicides of seven officers over the past 15 years.

“It’s one of the most devastating events any law enforcement agency can experience,” Rascati said.

Ron Mercado, an officer from Bridgeport, said his department still struggles daily with the recent suicide of one of its officers on Dec. 4.

“It’s difficult to focus when you’re still thinking to yourself whether you could have gotten him some more help,” Mercado said. “It doesn’t get any easier.”

One of the barriers to treatment the officers are looking to the General Assembly this year to resolve was adopted as part of the landmark 2013 legislation banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines post-Sandy Hook.
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Gov. Rick Scott to sign PTSD Benefits Bill for first responders

Gov. Rick Scott declared this day Florida Firefighters Appreciation Day and urged the community to thank first responders. Gov. Scott also announced he will sign a PTSD Benefits Bill. It's a continuation of the state's support of first responders and their families. It will ensure those firefighters suffering from PTSD will receive workers’ compensation benefits.

"It's a hidden killer in the profession. This benefit is needed so we ensure our firefighters don't have... their only option, our first responders don't look to suicide as the outlet to sort through the demons they deal with and these horrific images," said Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis. 
By: Erika Fernandez | WCTV Eyewitness News
March 7, 2018
read more here

Lebanon city councilman at-large, was found dead Thursday

Lebanon city councilman dies in apparent suicide, authorities say
Indy Star
Holly V Hays
March 1, 2018

Jeremy Lamar, Lebanon city councilman at-large, was found dead Thursday morning, Boone County officials confirm.

(Photo: Provided by the City of Lebanon)

Lamar's death is being investigated as a suicide, Boone County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Conley told IndyStar Thursday afternoon.

Authorities were called to a cemetery northeast of Lebanon around 11 a.m., where Lamar's body was found, Conley said. Investigators do not suspect foul play. A final ruling on cause and manner of death will be determined by the Boone County coroner's office.

The city confirmed Lamar's death, but did not elaborate on details, in a news release Thursday afternoon.
read more here

After firefighter suicide, advocates call for action on PTSD

Advocates push for PTSD recognition after local firefighter takes her own life
By: KIRO 7 News Staff
Updated: Feb 23, 2018

Advocates for local first responders are pushing for new legislation to protect firefighters who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

It’s something Heather Murphy knows about all too well.

Her wife, navy veteran and Lacey firefighter Crystal Murphy took her own life on Christmas Day in 2017.

“This would have never happened if it were not for her job and those calls,” Murphy said. “She may have not been on shift, but her mind was always on shift.”

While hundreds of Crystal’s fellow firefighters attended her funeral where she received full honors, her death is not considered a line-of-duty death.

That means, her family will not collect line of duty death benefits.

Coming up at 5, KIRO 7 goes in-depth on the local fight to recognize a condition other states cover, but we don't.
go here for that update

update on what just happened in Arizona

Arizona bill helps first responders get compensation, therapy for PTSD

How S.C. first responders are trying to save their own

Firefighter suicides outnumber line-of-duty deaths. How S.C. first responders are trying to save their own.
The Post and Courier
Angie Jackson
February 18, 2018

Suicides such as Emily Avin’s were once overlooked by firefighters and paramedics eager to maintain an image of bravery and invincibility. But that’s changing as the profession acknowledges a deadly scourge that claims more lives than the perils firefighters face in the line of duty.

Emily Avin was supposed to come home that day in September.

Her parents had arranged it: Avin would move back into their country home in the small Florence County town of Pamplico, where she grew up playing softball and cheering for her high school football team as the mascot. It would be a break, for a month or so, from her job as a paramedic, a career the young woman loved but now found emotionally draining.

She worked one last 24-hour shift in Aiken. Afterward, instead of driving across the state, Avin called her mother upset.

Sue Ann Avin detected hopelessness in her daughter’s voice.

“Emily, you’re not thinking about doing anything to hurt yourself, are you?”

Later that morning, Emily Avin called 911 from her home in Aiken to report a suicide.

She then picked up a gun, walked outside and pulled the trigger before anyone could reach her. She was 26.
read more here

First Responders ten times more likely to commit suicide,,,still?

“We have to help them continue on:” Local program helps first responders cope with PTSD
CBS 58 News
By: Whitney Martin
Posted: Feb 16, 2018

The internal pain, so deep emergency responders are ten times more likely to commit suicide, according to the journal of Emergency Medical Services. Twenty percent of firefighters are paramedics also have PTSD.

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) – A Wisconsin agency says emergency responders are committing suicide every 40 hours. Now, there’s a push in Madison to help save the people who live to save us.

A new law would expand the state’s workers’ compensation law allowing responders to take time away for PTSD, even if they weren’t physically injured during the traumatic experience.

CBS 58 Morning Anchor Whitney Martin explains the struggle that so many face.

Medals and awards line John Krahn’s walls. From the outside, he’s a hero. Inside, he’s fighting a battle only a few understand.

“I don’t dream normal dreams anymore. I haven’t since the accident,” said Krahn.

Those nightmares take the former Elm Grove Police Officer to the scene of a 2009 train accident where he was thrown into the air after attempting to save a mother and her son from a van stuck on the tracks.

While both made it out alive, Krahn still lives with the physical and emotional pain from that day, the day he almost died.

“I feel guilty that my wife has to deal with this,” Krahn says.

Krahn is referring to his post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD that can affect first responders causing flashbacks, anxiety, and insomnia, making some days feel like survival mode.
read more here

Mother hears son's donated heart beat in Navy veteran's chest

Mother hears son's donated heart beat in Navy veteran's chest
WBRC News
Tuesday, February 13th 2018

SALEM, VA (WSLS/CNN) – A mother who lost her son two years ago is now talking about her experience hearing his heart beat in another man’s chest and encouraging other families to consider organ donation.

Melinda Dillon remembers her son, 21-year-old Lucas, as full of life and energy. She says he had many friends, but most didn’t know about Lucas’ decade-long struggle with mental illness until he took his own life.

"His blood type and mine both were B-positive and part of his notation to us when he committed suicide was to stay positive,” Dillon said. "It's been hard. It's hard to stay positive."

Dillon got her son’s last message tattooed on her wrist along with his heartbeat, a rhythm she was able to hear in another man’s chest after Lucas’ heart was donated.

"If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't even be talking to you right now,” said Dave, a 56-year-old Navy veteran, who was suffering from congestive heart failure.

Lucas’ heart now beats in Dave’s chest, something for which the 56-year-old says he’s thankful for every day.

"I was gone. I was dead gone, you know. I wasn't supposed to be here. Before Lucas, I wasn't supposed to be here,” Dave said.

Dillon reached out to Dave, and they met in person, where the mother was able to hear Lucas’ donated heart, beating in Dave’s chest.

read more here

Florida First Responders example of wrong way PTSD crash!

Will Florida do the right thing for our First Responders...finally? If we do not acknowledge that this is a wound that comes with the job, then our veterans will think Florida feels the same way about them.

It is a simple question. Do we value those who risk their lives for us or not?

With emotion, legislators and relatives of late firefighters push PTSD bill

Florida Politics

Danny Mculiffe

January 16, 2018

“The numbers don’t lie,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer and state marshal said. He cited research from 2015 that showed 15 percent of firefighters had made at least one attempt at suicide during their career, while 46 percent of firefighters had thought about taking their lives.

“Recovering a toddler’s body from the river, pulling bodies from a car that ended up in a canal and carrying a decapitated teen’s body across the sand who was the victim of a shark attack would certainly take a toll on anyone,” Leslie Dangerfield said behind teary eyes.

She was describing the atrocities her husband, Indian River Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, had witnessed before he ultimately took his life. Leading up to her husband’s suicide, Leslie Dangerfield said his behavior had changed. He had succumbed to the “beast of PTSD,” or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Leslie Dangerfield told her story during a press conference Wednesday aiming to alert the public on bills in the Legislature this year that would provide workers’ compensation for first responders suffering from PTSD.

Currently, workers’ compensation laws do not provide for benefits in cases of first responders suffering from mental health-related injuries, unless they are accompanied by physical injury.

The issue has permeated the judiciary branch. 

Compensation Judge Neal Pitts denied workers’ compensation for former Orlando Police officer Gerry Realin last week. Realin responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting, which left 49 massacred and 58 others injured in June 2016.
read more here 

PTSD Expert Responds to Firefighters in Palm Beach

Palm Beach Fire Rescue hosts national firefighter PTSD expert for training course

WPTV 5 News

Amy Lipman

January 12, 2018

"Silence often surrounds the emotions that come with constantly witnessing tragedy."

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - More firefighters committed suicide in the U.S. than died in the line of duty in 2015 and 2016, according to the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. That group’s founder is part of a movement to try to change those statistics.

“Saying that we’re supposed to be strong and brave and handle it ourselves, it’s impossible to do," said Jeff Dill, founder and CEO of FBHA.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue firefighters along with members of other departments around the area sat in on training sessions with Dill. 

Years of research has gone into the course he around the country, but Indian River County Battalion Chief David Dangerfield is the reason he came to South Florida to talk about it. Dangerfield suffered from PTSD and committed suicide in October 2016. Dangerfield’s wife, Leslie, set up the training.

read more here 

Fire Chief David Dangerfield's Widow Fights Against Suicides

Leslie Dangerfield could have settled for just talking about firefighters risking their lives to save others, but ended up taking their own lives, but she didn't. She could have settled for putting it all behind her, but she didn't.

There are many things she could have done but giving up and moving on was not among them.

The thing is, Leslie Dangerfield decided to bring in some help for other firefighters. This way, they will get support, to not just ask for help, but know where to get it, and change the outcome from suicide to healing.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue to hold PTSD training

WPTV News

Amy Lipman

January 3, 2017

Next week, she's helping to bring the founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, Jeff Bill, to Palm Beach Fire Rescue for training sessions on the signs of PTSD.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Firefighters put their lives on the line every day, but the cumulation of those horrifying experiences can result in PTSD, causing some to ultimately commit suicide.

Indian River County Battalion Chief David Dangerfield took his own life in October 2016. 

“He said, 'I can’t do it anymore. The memories are too much. They’re haunting me and I can’t let them haunt me anymore,'" said Leslie Dangerfield, his wife.

David had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

"He began a downward spiral with really irrational behavior, frightening behavior," Leslie said.

read more here

Local firefighter’s widow mission to save lives, numbers show firefighter suicide rising
CBS 12 News
Liz Ortiz

Suicide among firefighters outpaces deaths in the line of duty by about 40%. Dangerfield said expanding their benefits could reduce those numbers.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS 12) — 

Only on CBS12: They put their lives in jeopardy to keep us all safe, but the stress they take home is killing them.

Numbers show firefighters and EMS suicides are on the rise.

A local widow is on a mission to change that and is taking her fight all the way to our state capital.

It was a phone call that changed Leslie Dangerfield’s life forever.

“He said, just know that I love you, you’re a good mom, and take care of our boys.”

On October 15, 2016, fallen Indian River County Fire Chief David Dangerfield said goodbye to his wife on the phone first, and then on Facebook.

After a 27-year career, Chief Dangerfield wrote in his suicide post that it was due to PTSD on the job. He posted on Facebook:

"PTSD for Firefights is real. If your loved one is experiencing signs get them help quickly. 27 years of death and babies dying in your hands is a memory that you will never get rid off. It haunted me daily until now. My love to my crews. Be safe, take care. I love you all."

U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) confirmed in 2016, 89 firefighters deaths in the line of duty were recorded, and 130 committed suicide.

read more here

Deeper Problem When Life Savers Commit Suicide

First Responders Should Never Be Last Lives Saved
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 9, 2017

We can talk all we want about "suicide awareness" but when we're talking about men and women, valuing the lives of others so much, they are willing to die for strangers, dying by choice should never happen.

That is the point to all of this, or at least it should be. Whenever you read statistics about civilians committing suicide, it is vital to consider that those who serve the rest of us, are just as human as the rest of us. Now try to imagine those humans ready to face the day knowing it could be their last one on their job, and on this earth.

None of this is new.

"For many first responders, post-traumatic stress disorder is becoming part of the job." 

"Becoming part of the job" is what this article implies. The trouble is, when you look at the research on the link, it is clear, PTSD has been part of the job for a very long time.

In the wake of suicide: Developing guidelines for suicide postvention in fire service

Because of the nature of the job, many of the 1.1 million firefighters in the United States are routinely exposed to high levels of traumatic and occupational stress (Beaton and Murphy, 1993; Haynes and Stein, 2014; Kimbrel et al., 2011), both of which are associated with mental health problems such as PTSD, alcohol use, and depression (e.g., Byrne and Espnes, 2008; Corneil, Beaton, Murphy, Johnson, and Pike, 1999; Kimbrel et al., 2011; Murphy, Beaton, Pike, and Johnson, 1999; North et al., 2002; Tak, Driscoll, Bernard, and West, 2007). Of most relevance to the current project is that these disorders are associated with increased risk for suicide (e.g., Cougle, Keough, Riccardi, and Sachs-Ericsson, 2009; Kessler, Borges, and Walters, 1999; Nock et al., 2009). Thus, the stresses of the job and frequency of these high-risk disorders among emergency responders has led to the rising concern about suicide in fire service (Armstrong, 2014; Dill and Lowe, 2012; Finney et al., 2015; Gliha, 2010; Miller, 2015; Peluso, 2010).

Shouldn't we be asking why they are not taken care of after all these years? We depend on them being there when we need them. When exactly do we show up when they need us?

First Responders, Families Fight For PTSD Coverage Under Workers Comp

WFSU By KATE PAYNE • 12 HOURS AGO

Credit Ariel Dovas via flickr

First responders run towards crashes, emergencies and catastrophes, not away from them. And for some, their experiences are leading to post traumatic stress disorder. But in Florida, first responders who develop PTSD on the job don’t get compensated, unless they have a physical injury as well. Now there are efforts at the statehouse to change that. A note to listeners, the following story includes frank discussion of death and suicide. 
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Firefighters Saving Lives, Except Their Own

SAVING THOSE WHO SAVE OTHERS: A RETIRED CHIEF AIMS TO STOP FIREFIGHTER SUICIDES 
East County Magazine
By Miriam Raftery

November 22, 2017 

Most are young or in the prime of life; 228 were between age 17 and 30, 265 were  age 31 to 40, 269 were age 41 to 50, and 190 were age 51 to 60.  Firefighters in their  60s and 70s accounted for 48 and 30 suicides respectively, and 49 were of unknown age. 

(San Diego’s East County) – Last year, 69 firefighters in the U.S. died in the line of duty, the National Fire Protection Association reports. But far more  -- 139 – took their own lives.

So far this year, 86 firefighters have been lost through suicide—including Cal Fire Captain Ryan Mitchell, who killed himself at the Pine Valley Bridge in San Diego’s East County earlier this month.

Jeff Dill, CEO and founder of the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (www.ffbha.org) , is determined to save firefighters’ lives  through special workshops designed by a firefighter, for a firefighter.

The workshops are offered to fire departments across the nation. They focus on behavioral health awareness, suicide prevention, and making resources available to help firefighters and their families.  

“Five years ago, no one was taking down these names and numbers,” says Dill,  a retired battalion chief who got his masters degree in counseling in Illinois and has since done research to compile data on firefighter suicides, then went on to create programs to help prevent such tragedies.

Since 1880, when the earliest known suicide occurred (a fire chief in Auburn, New York), at least 1,078 firefighters have killed themselves.  Sixty of those deaths were in California, the fifth highest rate in the nation after Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, the FFBHA reports.
read more here

In 2008, I received and award from the IFO for my work as a Chaplain. That was topped off only by hearing this video, intended for National Guard and Reservists, was helping police officers and firefighters.

When we can understand regular folks surviving trauma, it shouldn't be hard to understand when someone risks their lives on a daily basis to end up suffering for what they are willing to do for the rest of us.

They wouldn't be wounded if they didn't care enough to endure all of it for our sake!

Firefighters Won't Ask For Help for PTSD?

Firefighters Battle Blaze Within
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 18, 2017

Note to firefighters: If people did not want your help, you'd be out of a job. Think about that for a second. They do not just have to need help, but want it enough to call for you to come and help them.

New York Firefighter Memorial

When I was at the Point Man Conference at the Adam's Mark hotel in Buffalo over the weekend, there was a Firefighters Ball at the same hotel.

During a break a firefighter noticed the patch I was wearing and we talked. I told the firefighter who we were, how long we've been working on PTSD and that help is out there. All they have to do is ask for it.

He said it isn't that they don't need it, they don't want to ask for it. That shows how little they understand about what PTSD is. If they knew, then they'd never waste another second without getting help to be the best they can be for their families, other firefighters and the community they serve.

I had to get back to the conference and he had to go to the ball. Had we had more time, I would have explained that they won't ask for help because they blame themselves for having PTSD. Somehow, somewhere along the line, they, like veterans, got it into their heads there was a weakness within them.

Ya, I know but that is what they think. I guess no one ever told them that it wasn't weakness that was causing them pain. It was the strength of their emotional core that made them feel it so much stronger than others.

The very thing that allows them to rush into burning buildings while everyone else is running away, trying to do whatever they can to save someone else, prevents them from being able to save themselves.

If they understood it properly, they'd know that PTSD only comes from trauma. They'd didn't cause it but they were hit by it. 

They'd know that the word "trauma" is actually Greek for "wound" and thus, be able to accept the reality it happened to them.

They'd know that if they looked at it properly, they'd understand that the people they risk their lives for, not only need their help, they want it. They are unashamed to admit they cannot save themselves.

They'd acknowledge that they do not look down on the strangers they help, but find their lives so valuable, they will do anything to save them. 

So, then why don't they see, that their own life is valuable too and trust those they serve with enough to talk about what they need from them?

Here's a video I did several years ago. I did it for National Guardsmen to help them heal PTSD and understand it better. I found out at another conference Chaplains were using it with police officers and firefighters and it worked.

Here's another one you should watch.

RCMP Cpl.Trevor O'Keefe Kindness Remembered

Woman saved from domestic violence by Cpl. Trevor O'Keefe helps raise thousands in his memory

CBC News

October 11, 2017

O'Keefe took his own life last month after a lengthy battle with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the weeks since his death, other officers suffering from PTSD have spoken up about the battle they endure outside of work hours.

Family members of RCMP Cpl. Trevor O'Keefe were in Clarenville on Wednesday for a walk to raise money for the Canadian Mental Health Association. (Stephanie Marsden)

Fourteen years after RCMP Cpl.Trevor O'Keefe helped her escape domestic violence with her three children, Donna Hancock wanted to help his family.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people assembled in the streets in Clarenville to walk for the beloved officer, who took his own life Sept. 11.

Together, they raised $8,326 for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

"Trevor helped me out over a decade ago when I had a very difficult time in my life," Hancock told CBC's St. John's Morning Show. "I left a very abusive relationship with three small kids. Walking back and forth to work, he always checked in on me."

The walkers were led by a police car, fire truck and ambulance. Several police officers took part in the walk, including coworkers of O'Keefe.

Members of the O'Keefe family — including his parents, Pierre and Biddy, and children, Liam and Melissa — were in attendance.

read more here

Florida Firefighters Remembered For Service After Suicide

Firefighters who took their own lives will be added to memorial

KOAA News

Lena Howland

September 15, 2017

COLORADO SPRINGS
With the annual IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter's Memorial ceremony coming up this weekend in Colorado Springs, 196 names of firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice will be added to the memorial.

David Dangerfield is one of several other firefighters that took their own life and will be added to the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial. (KOAA)

Among them, a handful who didn't die in the line of duty, rather, from suicide caused by post-traumatic stress disorder they got on the job.

Usually when we hear about PTSD, it's related to our military but it's a growing issue among firefighters too.

They are first on scene to nearly every emergency, from fires, to drownings, to terrible accidents, they see it all and it can take a toll.

"Every three days, he experienced a trauma and then he came home to his family for 27 years," Leslie Dangerfield, a widow said.

David Dangerfield was a Battalion Chief in Florida.

But sadly one day, his wife, Leslie took the last call she would ever get from him.

"I love you, you're a good mom, take care of our kids... I begged him, please don't leave them, please don't do this, he said I can't do it anymore, I can't, the nightmares, I can't do it anymore," she said.

She had seen some warning signs. For years, he struggled with anger outbursts, sometimes irrational behavior and trouble sleeping.

"His nightmares about babies dying in his arms, about trying to save someone from a shark bite who lost a limb or he couldn't find a body part and had to bring a decapitated body onto the beach where the mother was standing," she said.

Sadly, he's not alone.

Richard Sandell, a Florida firefighter for 18 years, also took his life when his wife Diana was pregnant with their third child.

Read more here