PTSD and Suicide in the U.S. Fire Service
Associated Press
TERRY SPENCER
12/10/2016
The Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance estimates about 30 percent of the nation's 1.3 million career and volunteer firefighters suffer from PTSD, with 132 suicides by active and former U.S. firefighters and paramedics reported last year. Officials believe those numbers are low because of misclassifications. Studies show firefighters are three to four times more likely to kill themselves than die in on-duty accidents.
In this photo taken Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, the American flag is flown at half staff in front of Fire Station 2, honoring Vero Beach Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, in Vero Beach, Fla. The suicide of a firefighter who had a reputation for being a brave and positive force in his Florida community has shined a light on post-traumatic stress disorder in his profession. There have been recent national efforts to train firefighters to recognize PTSD and to remove the stigma of seeking help.
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Battalion Chief David Dangerfield's nickname was "Super Dave," a moniker the veteran firefighter had earned over the years for his cheerful, get-things-done personality. The leader of a fire department dive team in a quiet Florida beach community of 15,000 volunteered for charities helping kids and families and was the 2013 Treasure Coast Emergency Service Provider of the Year.
But one Saturday night last month, Dangerfield posted a Facebook message that revealed a world of pain behind the brave facade.
"PTSD for Firefighters is real. If your love (sic) one is experiencing signs get them help quickly. 27 years of deaths and babies dying in your hands is a memory that you will never get rid off (sic). ... My love to my crews. Be safe, take care. I love you all."
He then drove to some woods, called 911 and told the dispatcher where his body could be found. He hung up and fatally shot himself. He was 48.
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"Huge betrayal": Kate Brown angers veterans with cuts despite Measure 96
The Oregonian/OregonLive
By Hillary Borrud
December 09, 2016
Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, who was a leading advocate for Measure 96, called the governor's budget proposal "a slap in the face to Oregon voters." Parrish's husband, Mark, served in the Army during the Persian Gulf War and later in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.
Oregon veterans are taking Gov. Kate Brown to task for proposing millions of dollars less for services than voters might have assumed when they passed Measure 96 in November.
Measure 96 was the most popular measure on the fall ballot, winning 84 percent to 16 percent. It sets aside 1.5 percent of Oregon Lottery funds for services such as education, housing, health care and helping veterans better access their benefits. That's expected to hit more than $18 million over the next two years.
Brown's budget, revealed last week, includes that funding as directed. But at the same time, it would cut $10 million from the state's current spending on veterans' services. If lawmakers agree next year, that means veterans and their supporters could see far less money than expected.
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VA News Release
Letter to the Editor of USA Today
Dated December 8, 2016
There simply is no “secret” list. We publish the SAIL data regularly.
For more than a month we have been working with a USA Today reporter on a story looking closely at our internal quality improvement tool called Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) and the rankings it uses to help our facilities improve. The story posted online last night completely missed the point of this remarkable and helpful improvement process and serves only to mislead and confuse Veterans and the American public.
There simply is no “secret” list. We publish the SAIL data regularly. The relative ratings – using one to five stars – are not published but are used only to help us focus on improving care. The relative ratings are used by our Veterans Health Administration and all of the facilities as tools to improve. SAIL is the most powerful and positive tool we have.
Relative ratings are not the equivalent of the weekly NFL standings. It is possible for a hospital to improve and still not climb. Since the ratings are relative, during rating periods organizations will receive ratings, one to five stars, even if every facility improves. To be clear, no VA medical facility is bad or failing.
Even more simply put, this internal process keeps VA from the “everyone gets a blue ribbon” syndrome. It may be counterintuitive to the uninformed, but it works. The great stay great, the good get better.
What concerns all of us at VA is that USA TODAY has a consistent narrative of negativity in their news of VA. We have participated in editorial boards and spent hundreds of hours over the years to explain complex issues and provide data to USA TODAY reporters. Nonetheless, the outstanding and historic progress VA has made in transformation over the past two years is consistently ignored by USA Today.
The transformation of VA, the nation’s largest civilian agency is a big news story.
We have done our best to tell the truth about VA’s story of change – of creating a culture of continuous improvement and transparency, of measuring the right data that best capture health care quality and access, and how we use these measurements to deploy national resources to those facilities that need help and assist medical centers before their rankings drop. Others have helped to tell our story, like Harvard Business School in their most recent case study that was most complimentary.
USA Today’s use of the word “secret” in the headline is egregious hyperbole. It is clear that its intent is to have entertainment value to draw in readers. It is a disservice to those same readers because it immediately creates the image that one-star facilities, in particular, are substandard. We accept – and even relish – that because we are a government department, we are held to a higher standard for reporting to our Veterans. We have our fair share of challenges, yet VA remains one of the top medical providers in the country. Over 80% of Veterans are satisfied with their care and VA leads the way in many areas of medicine. Our employees, many of whom are Veterans themselves, work incredibly hard to provide Veterans the care and services they deserve.
USA TODAY has the right to publish as desired but in this case the paper is simply getting it wrong. Further, gathering and formatting a story for multiple papers in your chain to simply fill in the blanks – while convenient – is insufficient reason to cause unwarranted distress to our nation’s Veterans, could dissuade Veterans from coming to VA for care, and ultimately produce bad Veteran outcomes. They deserve better than that.
Sincerely,
Robert A. McDonald
Secretary
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
update
Judge tells man accused of beating woman, 94, 'Citizens of Chicago are not safe' with you on street
Josephine Regnier, a 94-year-old World War II Navy veteran, sits next to Jimmy, center, and Tommy Pieprzyca, who own Villa Rosa Pizza. The Pieprzycas offered a $5,000 reward that helped lead to the arrest of a man accused of beating and stealing from Regnier. (Judy Dusk)
94-YEAR-OLD WWII VETERAN BEATEN DURING ROBBERY; SUSPECT CRASHED STOLEN SUV
ABC News
Evelyn Holmes
December 8, 2016
"She's in the hospital right now with three fractured ribs, a black eye, a big goose egg on her head and a possible concussion," Dusk said.
Police are looking for a man who allegedly beat a 94-year-old woman, stole her purse and took off in a stolen vehicle before crashing it in Chicago's Garfield Ridge neighborhood.
The victim's daughter, Judy Dusk, said her mother, Josephine Regnier, is a World War II Navy veteran.
Dusk said she was waiting for one of her daughters outside her building in the 5100-block of South Long Avenue to pick her up to go to the dentist when she was attacked around 11:50 a.m. Wednesday. Police said a man pushed Regnier into the hallway of her building.
"This man just came in the gangway and assaulted her, beat the **** out of her, took her purse and ran," Dusk said.
Regnier was rushed to MacNeal Hospital, where police said her condition stabilized.
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VOLUNTEERS HELP IMPROVE HOME FOR ARMY VETERAN
WWAY News
December 8, 2016
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of volunteers came out to help improve the home of a local Army veteran on Thursday. It’s all part of a nationwide effort to give back, and now it’s going local.
Tristan Brown joined the military in 2006. In 2008, while deployed in Afghanistan, Brown was injured when his humvee ran over an IED. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and PTSD and was honorably discharged.
“That sent me home from deployment and that’s what I’ve been trying to kind of figure out, how to adjust to those injuries and those things over the past few years,” Brown said.
Brown, his wife and three kids recently became homeowners through a program that remodels foreclosed homes for veteran families.
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