Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Daisy Rooks
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Sociology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Wildland firefighter suicide rates are ten times that of the general population and lower than only a handful of other occupations in the US. Comorbid mental and behavioral health issues are similarly disproportionately common. In this paper I interview fourteen current and former wildland firefighters about their mental health before, during and (when relevant) after their occupational exposure to wildland fire. My intent is to provide a qualitative assessment of commonly reported mental health issues, their causes and possible solutions. Starting with ex-coworkers I utilized snowball sampling to gather interview subjects. I utilized concept-driven coding supported by memo notes. I then discuss what appear to be the most significant causes of mental health issues and potential solutions as suggested by interview subjects and available data. I chose to research this topic due to observing and experiencing mental health issues while fighting wildland fire. I experienced social and institutional barriers to engaging with mental health hygiene activities, which I suspect is a mitigatable, partial cause of the systemic mental health crisis in the occupation. The recently passed infrastructure bill includes permanent pay increases, improved safety regulations and mandatory mental health programs. While an attempted solution is already on the way, I hope this paper can provide insight into why wildland firefighters have such tremendous rates of mental health problems and what could be done about it.
Category
Social Sciences
Wildland Firefighter Off-Season Mental Health
UC 332
Wildland firefighter suicide rates are ten times that of the general population and lower than only a handful of other occupations in the US. Comorbid mental and behavioral health issues are similarly disproportionately common. In this paper I interview fourteen current and former wildland firefighters about their mental health before, during and (when relevant) after their occupational exposure to wildland fire. My intent is to provide a qualitative assessment of commonly reported mental health issues, their causes and possible solutions. Starting with ex-coworkers I utilized snowball sampling to gather interview subjects. I utilized concept-driven coding supported by memo notes. I then discuss what appear to be the most significant causes of mental health issues and potential solutions as suggested by interview subjects and available data. I chose to research this topic due to observing and experiencing mental health issues while fighting wildland fire. I experienced social and institutional barriers to engaging with mental health hygiene activities, which I suspect is a mitigatable, partial cause of the systemic mental health crisis in the occupation. The recently passed infrastructure bill includes permanent pay increases, improved safety regulations and mandatory mental health programs. While an attempted solution is already on the way, I hope this paper can provide insight into why wildland firefighters have such tremendous rates of mental health problems and what could be done about it.