Fire Chief David Dangerfield's Widow Fights Against Suicides

Leslie Dangerfield could have settled for just talking about firefighters risking their lives to save others, but ended up taking their own lives, but she didn't. She could have settled for putting it all behind her, but she didn't.

There are many things she could have done but giving up and moving on was not among them.

The thing is, Leslie Dangerfield decided to bring in some help for other firefighters. This way, they will get support, to not just ask for help, but know where to get it, and change the outcome from suicide to healing.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue to hold PTSD training

WPTV News

Amy Lipman

January 3, 2017

Next week, she's helping to bring the founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, Jeff Bill, to Palm Beach Fire Rescue for training sessions on the signs of PTSD.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Firefighters put their lives on the line every day, but the cumulation of those horrifying experiences can result in PTSD, causing some to ultimately commit suicide.

Indian River County Battalion Chief David Dangerfield took his own life in October 2016. 

“He said, 'I can’t do it anymore. The memories are too much. They’re haunting me and I can’t let them haunt me anymore,'" said Leslie Dangerfield, his wife.

David had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

"He began a downward spiral with really irrational behavior, frightening behavior," Leslie said.

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Local firefighter’s widow mission to save lives, numbers show firefighter suicide rising
CBS 12 News
Liz Ortiz

Suicide among firefighters outpaces deaths in the line of duty by about 40%. Dangerfield said expanding their benefits could reduce those numbers.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS 12) — 

Only on CBS12: They put their lives in jeopardy to keep us all safe, but the stress they take home is killing them.

Numbers show firefighters and EMS suicides are on the rise.

A local widow is on a mission to change that and is taking her fight all the way to our state capital.

It was a phone call that changed Leslie Dangerfield’s life forever.

“He said, just know that I love you, you’re a good mom, and take care of our boys.”

On October 15, 2016, fallen Indian River County Fire Chief David Dangerfield said goodbye to his wife on the phone first, and then on Facebook.

After a 27-year career, Chief Dangerfield wrote in his suicide post that it was due to PTSD on the job. He posted on Facebook:

"PTSD for Firefights is real. If your loved one is experiencing signs get them help quickly. 27 years of death and babies dying in your hands is a memory that you will never get rid off. It haunted me daily until now. My love to my crews. Be safe, take care. I love you all."

U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) confirmed in 2016, 89 firefighters deaths in the line of duty were recorded, and 130 committed suicide.

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Who Will Speak For Them Now?

The numbers speak for those who cannot speak for themselves anymore.

AFGHANISTAN 

FATALITIES

2010 499

2011 418

2012 310

2013 127

2014 55

2015 22

2016 14

2017 15

2018 1

IRAQ 

FATALITIES

2010 60

2011 54

2012 1

2014 3

2015 6

2016 17

2017 17

2010 Military Suicides

The AFMES indicates that 295 Service Members died by suicide in 2010 

(Air Force = 59, Army = 160, Marine Corps = 37, Navy = 39).

2011 Military Suicides

The AFMES indicates that 301 Service Members died by suicide in 2011 (Air Force = 50, Army = 167, Marine Corps = 32, Navy = 52). This number includes deaths strongly suspected to be suicides that are pending final determination. DoDSER Points of Contact (POCs) submitted reports for 100% of AFMES confirmed 2011 suicides (Air Force = 46, Army = 159, Marine Corps = 31, Navy = 51) as of the data extraction date (26 April 2012). 

A total of 915 Service Members attempted suicide in 2011 (Air Force = 241, Army = 432, Marine Corps = 156, Navy = 86). 

DoDSERs were submitted for 935 suicide attempts (Air Force = 251, Army = 440, Marine Corps = 157, Navy = 87). Of the 915 Service Members who attempted suicide, 896 had one attempt, 18 had two attempts, and 1 had three attempts.

2012 Military Suicides

According to AFMES data as of 31 March 2013, there were 319 suicides among Active component Service members and 203 among Reserve component Services members (Reserve [n = 73]; National Guard [n = 130]. The suicide rate (per 100,000 Service members) for the Active component was 22.7 and for the Reserve component was 24.2 (Reserve – 19.3, National Guard – 28.1). Per policy, the DoDSER system collected data on suicides for all Service members in an Active status at the time of death, including Service members in the Reserve components (i.e., active or activated 2 Reserve/National Guard). The distribution of suicide DoDSERs across the four included Services was as follows: Air Force – 57 (17.9%), Army – 155 (48.7%), Marine Corps – 47 (14.8%), and Navy – 59 (18.6%). 

A total of 841 Service members had one or more attempted suicides reported in DoDSER for CY 2012. Below we provide summary statistics on several variables for all DoD suicide and suicide attempt DoDSERs.

2013 Military Suicides

Number of confirmed and pending suicides for CY 2013, as of June 30, 2014 Active 259  Reserve 220

 

DoDSERs across the four included Services was as follows: Air Force-43 (17.6%), Army-115 (46.9%), Marine Corps-45 (18.4%), and Navy-42 (17.1%). These counts included reports for both confirmed suicides and probable suicides pending a final determination. 

A total of 1,034 SMs had one or more attempted suicides reported in the DoDSER for CY 2013

2014 Military Suicides

Active Component Air Force 60 Army 122  Marine Corps 34  Navy 53  Reserve Component All Reserve 80  All National Guard 89 

A total of 1,126 suicide attempts were reported from the four Services. 

The last quarterly report from the DOD has the charts. Go here to read more of the report, but pretty much this sums it all up.

And for all the suicides, plus attempted suicides, none of the "awareness raisers" ever bother to mention any of this. 

After all, why should they? No one holds them accountable for using a number without reading the reports anyway.

So who will speak for them now? Will you ask reporters to find the facts? Will you ask members of Congress to actually investigate any of this? Will you confront the "awareness raisers" about what they are doing besides just talking about a number?

Will you speak for those we already lost, before more are lost for our silence?

Female Firefighter, Mentor, Died on Christmas

Dedicated Lacey firefighter, dead at 40, was passionate role model for girls
Seattle Times
By Paige Cornwell
Seattle Times staff reporter
January 1, 2018

Crystal Murphy, a Lacey firefighter who mentored hundreds of girls interested in the fire service, died on Christmas Day. She was 40.

Crystal Murphy, who made her mark as an advocate for diversity in the fire service, died at 40 on Christmas Day. (Courtesy of Camp Blaze)

Lacey Fire District 3, where Murphy was a firefighter and EMT for nine years, announced her death earlier this week. Her cause of death was not released.

“She was a very, very dedicated public servant and a role model for firefighters, particularly women, in the fire service everywhere,” Lacey Fire Chief Steve Brook said Friday.

Murphy was known for her work as an advocate for diversifying the fire service. Nationally, about 4 percent of firefighters are women, according to the National Fire Protection Agency. Murphy wanted to change that.

“Young girls aren’t taught that they can do a lot of things we do in the fire service,” said Kris Larson, a Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief. “We wanted to show them that being a firefighter, which isn’t necessarily seen as a woman’s job, is an important passion.”
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Community pulls together to send off TLC

A Gorge ‘Holiday for Heroes’
Dalles Chronicle
RaeLynn Ricarte
December 28, 2017

Dan Brophy, a Marine veteran and chaplain for Point Man, said the statement made by Miguel (last name withheld for security reasons) reflects how he felt when receiving care packages from home during a 1968-69 deployment to Vietnam.

Christmas boxes sent to Afghanistan by residents of Wasco and Hood River counties are shown with the team of defense contractors who received them. Other shipments arrived at the base of an Oregon National Guard unit and Marine Raiders in the Middle East. A total of 85 boxes were sent to the field and the Holiday for Heroes Committee, which organized the outreach effort, credits the generosity of community members for the success of the mission.

The Holiday for Heroes Committee received a photo Dec. 27 from a team of defense contractors in Afghanistan posing with 31 Christmas boxes they received from Gorge residents.

The photo was accompanied by these words from Miguel, one of the team members: “This isn't everyone but it's everyone I could muster right now. Had some guys working and others just dispersed around the camp.

“The guys descended on the gifts like locusts, laughing and giving thanks to the group that sent the packages. This was a gigantic morale builder, more so than I would have imagined. Thank you doesn't quite cut it but thank you so very much. Merry Christmas and God bless all of our supporters. Your efforts were greatly noticed and appreciated by the men here.”

He added, “believe it or not, the most popular items are the handmade letters and drawings from children.”

Area schools participated in the troop support effort by allowing students to write messages and send works of art to the defense team and 29 members of an Oregon National Guard military police unit who train in Hood River.

Capt. Rich Smith of that unit said Tuesday the tempo of operations has been too high for a Christmas party, so pictures of his soldiers opening their care packages were not yet available.
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Oregon VA Hospital Turns Veterans Away Because of "Risk"

At Veterans Hospital in Oregon, a Push for Better Ratings Puts Patients at Risk, Doctors Say
New York Times
By DAVE PHILIPPS
JAN. 1, 2018

“The doctors were mad; the nurses were mad,” said Mr. Savage’s son-in-law, Mark Ridimann. “And my dad, he was mad, too. He kept saying, ‘I’ve laid my life on the line, two years in Vietnam, and this is what I get?’”

ROSEBURG, Ore. — An 81-year-old veteran hobbled into the emergency room at the rural Veterans Affairs hospital here in December, malnourished and dehydrated, his skin flecked with ulcers and his ribs broken from a fall at home.

A doctor examining the veteran — a 20-year Air Force mechanic named Walter Savage who had been living alone — decided he was in no shape to care for himself and should be admitted to the hospital. A second doctor running the inpatient ward agreed.

But the hospital administration said no.

Though there were plenty of empty beds, records show that a nurse in charge of enforcing administration restrictions said Mr. Savage was not sick enough to qualify for admission to the hospital. He waited nine hours in the emergency room until, finally, he was sent home.

Fewer patients meant fewer chances of bad outcomes and better scores for a ranking system that grades all veterans hospitals on a scale of one to five stars. In 2016, administrators began cherry-picking cases against the advice of doctors — turning away complicated patients and admitting only the lowest-risk ones in order to improve metrics, according to multiple interviews with doctors and nurses at the hospital and a review of documents.

Those metrics helped determine both the Roseburg hospital’s rating and the leadership’s bonus checks. By denying veterans care, the ratings climbed rapidly from one star to two in 2016 and the director earned a bonus of $8,120.
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UPDATE

Roseburg VA official calls New York Times story about patient care 'false'

"At its core, the Roseburg VAHCS is primarily an outpatient center, and that’s why the hospital’s clinical leadership has made clear to its physicians that the facility has limited capabilities to care for patients with certain clinical conditions that are far better treated in nearby community hospitals.

This is precisely why we’re being transparent with our doctors about the conditions that the facility is unable to treat, because it’s in Veterans’ best interests for them to be seen at other hospitals in the community with greater capabilities to deliver them the best care for those conditions." You can read the rest here