Greencastle Fire Chief putting focus on mental health

Rob Frank has been a firefighter long enough to know what is seen on a fire run, medical run or at an accident has a way of creeping back to home. 

That is why the Greencastle Fire Chief is focused on bringing mental health to the forefront after being appointed chief at the beginning of the year. 

"It is something that we've talked about for quite some time. Firefighters and police officers experience a lot of trauma over the span of a 20-year career. According to a 2023 article I read by Saul Jaeger called Perspective, police officers, on average, experience 178 traumatic events throughout a career. The average person experiences two to three traumatic events in a lifetime," Frank told The Putnam County Post. 

Frank admits it came to the forefront for him and "hit home personally" when he and his brother listened to Travis Howze speak about PTSD in Martinsville. 

"Travis is a Marine and worked as a firefighter for Charleston (SC) Fire. He was on the scene and lost a close friend in the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire. So much of what he said resonated with me and my experiences. It opened my eyes to how important this really was," Frank said. 

Frank said he knows several firefighters from Terre Haute who have been through the IAFF Peer Support training and have their own program. 

It is something he would like to do with his Greencastle Fire Department. 

"We would like to work through our local union and send several of our firefighters to this training. We are in the process of doing this now. The idea is for firefighters to be trained to talk to other firefighters about their trauma. Who is better to talk to than someone who has been where you have been. Because honestly, people who haven't been there don't understand what you've been through or are going through," Frank said. 

Frank said close to 100 firefighters commit suicide each year, and he wants to get out in front of the epidemic. 

"We can get ahead of it by first stopping the stigma that admitting you have a problem is a sign of weakness. For so long, we have been taught that this is just part of the job. Reaching out to each other and finding help when we go through 

traumatic experiences and just being there for each other. Then by establishing a Peer Support team so firefighters have someone who is trained to talk to when they need it," Frank said. 

And, he said another issue is secondary trauma and what first responders take home to their families. 

"This is something I learned from Travis. He said when we go home tired from running all night or if we've had a traumatic experience, we have a tendency to take that out on our families. Having a short fuse, sometimes yelling or not wanting to deal with them. He said in a sense, we are abusing our families. They don't deserve that," Frank said. 

Frank said he has the support of Mayor Lynda Dunbar and he believes most firefighters are on board with getting the program started. 

"We have several who want to be trained to help. Most firefighters tuck their trauma away and pretend it isn't there. So, getting them to open up is hard. For me, there are certain things that trigger it and make it all come flooding back. But trauma is different for each person and we can't compare what we have experienced as trauma to someone else's experiences," Frank said. 

As for a timetable and how it will be paid for, Frank said discussions continue. 

"Our hope is to get some firefighters to the training this year. We are thinking of a combination of union and city funds, but we still have to discuss that and that is still in the works," Frank said.