{"id":20820,"date":"2025-01-17T00:31:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T05:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&#038;p=20820"},"modified":"2025-01-17T00:41:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T05:41:37","slug":"the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-20820-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/2nd-alarm011625s.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/2nd-alarm011625s.mp3\">https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/01\/2nd-alarm011625s.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>While most Floridians flee natural and man-made disasters, first responders run toward them. They work long hours, witnessing the traumas experienced by others. In Florida, that has included the Surfside condominium collapse, the Pulse night club and Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shootings, and a long string of hurricanes.<\/p>\n<p>This week the Senate Children and Families Committee heard from the 2nd Alarm Project. The organization\u2019s job is to help firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement officers maintain their mental health.<\/p>\n<p>First responders make up 1.4 percent of Florida\u2019s workforce, but their suicide rate is more than twice that of working-age Floridians. That\u2019s why the 2nd Alarm Project deploys teams to communities where first responders are working: to help them cope with what they\u2019re seeing. The teams include trained first responders who know the job and serve as peer support\u2026along with trained chaplains, clinicians and comfort dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Kellie O\u2019Dare, the founder and leader of the project, spoke to the Senate committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst responders face a unique combination of stressors that impact their mental health, including frequent exposure to potentially traumatic events, personal challenges like relationship and financial pressures, and workplace demands such as long hours and high workloads,&#8221; O&#8217;Dare said. &#8220;These compounded risk factors, coupled with limited access to resources, can significantly increase the prevalence of mental health issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Dare said another stressor for firefights is the 56-hour work week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8230;and this does not include mandatory or voluntary overtime, with some departments exceeding 68 to 70 hours per week &#8212; and that far exceeds the traditional 40-hour work week that many professions have,&#8221; she said. &#8220;These extended hours can significantly disrupt the work-life balance and impair healthy sleep patterns &#8212; both critical components of mental and physical well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that peer support is effective. Surveys show 78 percent of first responders who experience peer support are \u201cvery satisfied\u201d or \u201csatisfied\u201d with their most recent encounter. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2025 WFSU<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":20821,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1136,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First responders make up 1.4 percent of Florida\u2019s workforce, but their suicide rate is more than twice that of working-age Floridians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T05:41:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/firefighters-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/\",\"name\":\"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-17T05:31:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-17T05:41:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\",\"name\":\"WFSU Local Routes\",\"description\":\"Local stories from northern Florida and southern Georgia.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes","og_description":"First responders make up 1.4 percent of Florida\u2019s workforce, but their suicide rate is more than twice that of working-age Floridians","og_url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/","og_site_name":"WFSU Local Routes","article_modified_time":"2025-01-17T05:41:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":799,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/firefighters-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/","url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/","name":"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster - WFSU Local Routes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-01-17T05:31:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-17T05:41:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/the-2nd-alarm-project-helps-1st-responders-cope-with-disaster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 2nd Alarm Project helps 1st responders cope with disaster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/","name":"WFSU Local Routes","description":"Local stories from northern Florida and southern Georgia.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wfsu-news\/20820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wfsu-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wfsu-news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}