Q&A
Psychological challenges and mental health support for FDNY members
0:37:09
·
102 sec
Council Member Kevin Riley inquires about the psychological challenges faced by firefighters during and after search and rescue operations. Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn discusses the mental health support available to FDNY members.
- FDNY has a dedicated Counseling Services Unit for all members
- Proactive counseling is provided, including visits to firehouses
- Mental health concerns are taken seriously, with no repercussions for seeking help
Kevin Riley
0:37:09
So I just wanted to ask, what are the psychological challenges faced by firefighters during and after search and rescue operations?
Daniel Flynn
0:37:19
I think I think that whole is it depends on the individual.
0:37:22
Firefighters, fire marshals, EMS members.
0:37:26
We have a stressful job.
0:37:27
It's a difficult job.
0:37:29
And we do have a counseling services unit that we encourage everybody to reach out to, and I think it is utilized properly by our members.
0:37:39
To reach out, and there's no repercussions for seeking counseling within the Bureau of Fire Investigation or otherwise.
0:37:45
I think we have very many members that have sought the help of the counseling unit on their own, and we also provide proactive counseling to them.
0:37:54
We have members from CSU go out to the bases that we have go out to the firehouses and just talk to the members about what they're feeling and what they're facing.
0:38:05
It is the mental health concern is very great for us in the fire department, and we encourage them to do whatever they can to get their mental health health right.
0:38:16
But that is definitely a concern of ours that we take extremely seriously.
0:38:21
We like I said, we have a dedicated counseling service unit that's located on Lafayette Street in Manhattan where members can go to to receive any kind of counseling, marriage counseling, not just related to the the stresses that they have on the fire floor.
0:38:36
But stresses they may take home as well.
0:38:38
So we wanna we wanna make sure that we stop that also.
0:38:41
You know, you may go home and take it out on on your family, and we don't wanna see that.
0:38:45
So we take out extremely seriously, and we encourage anybody to see California necessary.
