Spike In Suicides Among Philadelphia Firefighters Calls Attention To Pressures Of Job

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Philadelphia fire department has been rocked in the last six months by a sudden spike in the number of employees who have taken their own life, which has called attention to the pressures they face on the job.

Firefighters see a lot of things that most of us would never want to, according to Chief Leroy Ruffin:

"When fires happen and people get burnt up, we see that. We go to accidents where people have fatalities and we have to move those people."

Ruffin believes that's one reason the department has seen three of its members, including one retired employee, commit suicide since December. As the employee relations officer, it's his job to try to stop this tragic trend.

"We must intervene on those situations."

He says the department has just completed a program to encourage firefighters feeling stressed to use the employee assistance program, but also to train them to identify colleagues who might need help:

"They'll be the first one to see another member change in the way they're behaving."

Union president Joe Schulle says he'd like to see an end to the rotation system that he believes weakens firefighter support networks:

"We rely on each other on the fire ground and we tend to rely on each other with personal issues as well."

Ruffin agrees the department depends on firefighters to look out for each other because they best understand the pressures of the job.