Suicide Prevention Begins With Courageous Captains

Preventing suicides begins in your own house! 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 9, 2018

In case you forgot what being a Captain is,
Definition of captain

1 a (1) : a military leader : the commander of a unit or a body of troops
(2) : a subordinate officer commanding under a sovereign or general
(3) : a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking above a first lieutenant and below a major

b (1) : a naval officer who is master or commander of a ship
(2) : a commissioned officer in the navy ranking above a commander and below a commodore and in the coast guard ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral
c : a senior pilot who commands the crew of an airplane
d : an officer in a police department or fire department in charge of a unit (such as a precinct or company) and usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief

Considering that military suicides have averaged about 500 a year since 2012, while combat deaths within the same years were much lower, it is time for Captains to step up.

Considering that law enforcement suicides have gone up, while deaths in the line of duty have not gone up the same way, time for Captains to step up.

It isn't as if no one has been talking about this. This report from AP came out in 2008. Yes! 2008, ten years ago!


Considering firefighters are committing suicide in higher numbers, according to a report from CBS, emergency responders are ten times more likely to commit suicide and that came from Emergency Medical Services. 

Battalion Chief Erik Sutton and Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, posted about firefighters and PTSD, before he committed suicide, among many more, are still finding it hard to ask for help.

How many will it take before Captains get some courage to actually do something that will get rid of the stigma?

81% of the firefighters feared they would be seen as weak according to an NBC survey.

Is it that they are under some kind of delusion that the people under them are no longer the kind of people who would die to save someone else? Do they know their own people?

If the stigma of PTSD among those who would die for the sake of someone else is still stronger than the events they face on a daily basis, then the Captains and other leaders need to start figuring out how they need to change the message.

The only way to do that is to actually find out what PTSD is and the difference between what civilians get from one event AND THE TYPE OF PTSD RESPONDERS GET FROM FACING DEATH RESPONDING TO THE OTHERS THEY WOULD DIE FOR!

This isn't rocket science but it is common sense. When we have so many still taking their own lives after all these years, they ran out of excuses!