Protecting the public coming at a serious price for paramedics and firefighters

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There's a serious health hazard taking the lives of first responders across the country – post-traumatic stress disorder.

Constant exposure to stressful, life-or-death situations is taking a toll and some are reluctant to get help.

John Yow, a retired Stanly County EMS manager, vividly remembers the worst calls he responded to, which stay in his mind well into retirement.

"Sometimes they will bring tears to your eyes,” Yow said. "I still see those faces at night and it still bears on me sometimes."

For 37 years, Yow helped others as a paramedic. When he needed help, he told Channel 9 anchor Liz Foster that he didn't know where to turn.

The extreme trauma Yow witnessed, and constant life-or-death situations, became too much to bear. In 2015, Yow was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Despite counseling and medication, it forced him to retire early.

"You may come from a likable person to a person that nobody likes, not even yourself,” Yow said. "I thought suicide was my way out and it was real close."

The heartbreaking issue is widespread among first responders.

Nearly half of firefighters surveyed in a 2015 Florida State University study admitted they've thought about suicide.

Charlotte firefighter Jody Damron is among them.

Damron was diagnosed with PTSD five years ago and has lost friends because of it.

"At least the last year, I have known personally about almost a dozen people that have taken their lives,” Damron said.

Since 2014, more firefighters and EMTs in the United States have committed suicide each year than the number of firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Jeff Dill, who established the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, which he says is the organization in the country that tracks and verifies firefighter suicides, said there has been little research on PTSD among first responders.

He said some don't speak out, fearing they will be fired if they can't function at work.

"In the last seven years, it's really come to the forefront, which is a great thing that we're talking about it, yet I still think that we've just started really scratching the surface of what the depth is of pain in those that are struggling,” Dill said.

Some agencies, including the Charlotte Fire Department, offer support services for employees who need help.

But nationwide, only a few states cover PTSD under workers compensation benefits. The Carolinas do not have it covered.

A North Carolina lawmaker who was contacted by Channel 9 is looking into changing that.

Retired Charlotte firefighter Jody Wetta now volunteers to help first responders struggling with PTSD through a nationwide program called Firstline Recovery.

[About Firstline Recovery]

"State governments, federal government, they don't really recognize it yet as a big issue,” Wetta said.

"The need has probably been the biggest surprise,” said Damron, who also volunteers with Firstline.

Firstline, which just started this year, has 12 programs across the country. Two are in North Carolina, including one that meets at a church in Stanfield.

Yow credits the program for saving his life.

"First responders are very important to our society,” Yow said. “Without firefighters, police officers, paramedics, nurses, who's going to take care of you if you get hurt? And it's a dying breed."

The firefighters who talked to Channel 9 talked to believe PTSD among first responders, including in Charlotte, will only get worse.

As Charlotte keeps growing, the number of emergency calls will keep going up and expose more first responders to trauma.

Cox Media Group