EMS | Kevin Greene, EMS/Health & Safety Director
California Fire Service Suicide Prevention & Awareness Stand Down to Move to September in 2025
FIREFIGHTER AND EMS personnel continue to be exposed to traumatic events that have lasting effects on their well being and quality of life. In addition to these traumatic calls, personnel face biopsychosocial impacts of shiftwork and sleep deprivation in the course of their work.
The California Fire Service Task Force on Behavioral Health is committed to highlighting the importance of mental health wellness and promoting programs to bring awareness and prevention strategies to eliminate suicide in the fire service.
In an effort to continue to modernize the Fire Service Suicide Awareness and Prevention Stand Down, the Task Force has recommended moving the 2025 Stand Down from May to Suicide Awareness Month in September to leverage parallel efforts with the IAFF as well as federal agencies focused on preventing suicide.
This action will allow fire departments and CPF affiliates across the state—including volunteer and combination agencies—to calendar exercises based on individual training schedules. The Task Force will provide programming that can be spread over the entire month or adapted for a single Stand Down.
The program will explore topics including:
Promoting strong social connections.
Early identification and intervention strategies.
Continue to promote awareness of strategies to reduce access to lethal means.
Discuss elements that contribute to firefighter suicide.
How to talk about suicide and tips for when a brother or sister asks for help.
Creating an overall culture of wellness in the fire service.
Identifying characteristics for fire service culturally competent clinicians.
In addition to general talking points, program elements will include podcasts with fire service competent clinicians and other suicide prevention experts, profiles of agencies with active suicide prevention programs and fresh testimonials on resilience and recovery.
Additionally, we will continually refresh www.healingourown.org to include the latest research, resources, testimonials, and tools for awareness and prevention throughout the year.