Video: First Responders Deal With PTSD

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- June is Post traumatic stress disorder awareness month.

When we think of PTSD, usually Military combat veterans come to mind, but there is one group on the homefront that is often affected.

When emergency crews go to calls, they never know what they’ll see or what’s going to happen.

They’re asked to go into some of the most dangerous situations imaginable, and Sometimes, the things they witness can be unbearable.

“First responders see just as much as the military, if not more, because it’s not everyday that we have a war going on but it’s every day we’re responding to calls,” said Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols.

“We see a lot of death, that’s the one thing that I don’t think people realize, how much death we see,” said Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough.

Yarbrough said witnessing death is never easy and it can take an emotional toll on the body.

“I can remember a couple of years ago I can remember we had nine people die in a house fire, six kids and three adults, and that took a toll on pretty much everybody that had something to do with it,” he said.

“I responded to a scene where I didn’t know who was involved, and upon entering the apartment, I noticed that it was one of my classmates who was deceased there, and you know, you don’t know what to feel,” said Nichols.

Nichols said training can’t prepare officers for the different types of traumatic incidents they experience.

Responders are trained to focus on saving lives but sometimes that can be difficult.

“You can only stack so much stuff in the back of your head and keep going, so eventually, it’s going to take its toll on you and you’ll have that one thing, and you’ll break down and it’s not from that one thing, it’s a combination of 20 years or 15 years of bad calls that you saw,” said Yarbrough.

Finding ways to cope with these incidents varies depending on the person and department.

“Sometimes we joke around to deal with stuff, some guys get quiet, some guys wont say anything, some guys cry,” said Yarbrough.

“We encourage prayer here at the Starkville Police Department, we have our chaplain program here in place where different chaplains come in and pray with the officers on different occasions,” said Nichols.

Both chief’s said incidents that involve babies are the toughest.

The Starkville fire and Police departments offer counseling services for employees.