Wanjiru Waweru, Jadetimes Contributor
W. Waweru is a News Reporter Covering Health and American News
Worcester, Massachusetts – Health leaders and first responders are collaborating to provide awareness of firefighter mental health. The Last Call Foundation brought UMass Medical School a $200,000 grant for the latest research and education program.
Some of the grant money would be used to educate medical students about the occupational hazards of firefighting and its long-term effects on firefighters. The money would also be provided for research on how to adjust the proper care for firefighters.
The medical school would also be in charge of several lectures to address the stress that many firefighters face, which they reported that they could attribute to addiction and mental health crises.
The firefighting community itself is well aware of their occupational hazards, and they know they’re at that disproportionate risk for occupational cancers, mental health disorders,” said Timothy Boardman, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine at UMass Chan. “But part of the barrier is how to convey that information to health care providers who may not have the same knowledge. And so, part of this lecture series is to help facilitate that conservation. You know, give firefighters and first responders the tools they need to interact with the medical community. But the same time, educating the medical community to be more receptive of that information.”
The first lecture begins this Friday from three to five in the afternoon in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium at UMass Chan. It would be available to firefighters, first responders, medical students, and professionals.
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