MdE, Inc. News

Firefighting has always been an occupation fit only for the brave.  In the firefighting community in America today, we face unprecedented new challenges.  There is no escaping the reality that the fire situation is getting worse, particularly for firefighters on the ground. Firefighters are increasingly being asked to cover more areas of expertise in more complex fire environments.  Many fire departments are now required to cover Advanced Life Support incidents if they want to have any chance of competing with private ambulance companies.  Although firefighter positions continue to grow in the structure fire community, the situation in wildland firefighting is dire. The majority of the elite, Type 1 wildland firefighters work for a Federal agency – mostly the Park Service, Forest Service, or Bureau of Land Management. Some other crews work for various state agencies, or for smaller agencies such as Fish and Wildlife.  In an environment where the Federal […]

Firefighters serve an entire career of being on-call. Nearly every day, they are out and about, working within their communities. Through hosting kindergarten classroom tours, blaring fire engine sirens in the parades, and hosting community barbecues and firefighter balls, they’ve gotten acquainted with the men and women who govern the town and own businesses. The news reporters have written about their heroism in the local papers many times. Throughout their careers, the community becomes a major part of their lives—one that they are very proud to be a part of. For all firefighters, the day comes when it’s time to retire. Because their communities are such a large part of their lives, moving into retirement is often a bigger adjustment than it is in other professions. It’s also a bigger adjustment than most firefighters thought it would be. Because of the exposure to hazardous materials, firefighters have a shorter life expectancy […]

You might be a corrections officer if. Jeff Foxworthy poked fun at rednecks, jabbing at nearly every occupation along the way, including stressful occupations like corrections officers. High wages, great benefits, and early retirement are benefits that attract workers to the job—one that comes with immense emotional stressors.   The United States Department of Labor reports that corrections officers have the highest rates of injuries and illnesses as compared to all other occupations. Corrections officers receive training in excess of 40 hours, which generally does not include instruction on job-related stress.    Psychologist Caterina Spinaris conducted a study in 2013 which showed that 31% of corrections officers suffered from PTSD—a rate that rivals combat-induced PTSD in veterans. This may be due to multiple types of stressors that affect prison guards.   Line of duty stress—managing inmate behavior manifests in constant hypervigilance and fight or flight response. Organizational stress—striking a balance […]

“Compassion fatigue” is a term that may be unfamiliar to some, but is rapidly becoming a recognized issue in our society.  One day, fire culture may see compassion fatigue listed and treated as a mental hazard along with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Indeed, the two are often parallel .  But what is compassion fatigue?   One of the pioneers of our understanding of compassion fatigue was Dr. Charles Figley, who defined it as follows:   “Compassion Fatigue is a state experienced by those helping people or animals in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper.”   Compassion fatigue is not a mental illness, but it is a disorder – similar to other mental or emotional disorders like major depression, bipolar disorder, or alcoholism. Studies suggest that […]