You Don't Have to Wait Until You're in Crisis

⚠️Content warning: This post discusses suicide among first responders.

According to Survive First, Florida's first responder community has lost three people to suicide in the past 30 days. Two Florida law enforcement officers died by suicide within 48 hours in August alone.

Fortunately, the numbers are still lower than the six-year average of 12.6 deaths per year. However, the total for 2026 has already reached seven, which matches the total reported for all of 2025. According to First H.E.L.P.'s data, Florida currently has the highest number of reported first responder suicides in the country this year, with New York close behind at five.

It can be easy to look at numbers and forget that these are people.

People who had family and friends who loved them. People who worked alongside partners, crews, and shifts that counted on them. People who had lives outside of the uniform.

And people whose deaths will continue to affect those who knew them long after the news stories and social media posts disappear.

I don't share these numbers to suggest that every first responder is struggling or that suicide is an inevitable consequence of doing this work. It isn't.

I share them because there are people in these professions who are hurting, and sometimes the culture that makes first responders incredibly good at taking care of others can make it difficult to admit when they're the ones who need help.

You don't have to wait until you're in crisis to reach out.

You don't have to have PTSD. You don't have to be suicidal. You don't need to be able to explain exactly what's wrong.

Maybe you're not sleeping like you used to. Maybe you're more irritable at home. Maybe the calls are following you home more than they used to. Maybe you're drinking more, isolating yourself, or finding that things you once enjoyed don't feel the same. There could be one call, one decision, or one outcome you can't put down.

Or maybe you just know that something has changed.

That's enough of a reason to talk to someone.

Reach out to someone you trust, such as a partner, someone on your crew or shift, a peer-support member, a chaplain, a clinician who understands public safety, or someone else who can sit with you and listen without trying to fix everything.

And if you're worried about somebody else, reach out to them too. Don't assume somebody else already has.

Sometimes the most important conversation starts with something as simple as:

“Hey, you haven't seemed like yourself lately. How are you really doing?”

We spend a lot of time in public safety learning how to recognize when someone else needs help.

We need to get just as good at recognizing when it's us.

Reaching out isn't the last resort. It can be the first step.

Sources: Survive First; First H.E.L.P., The Numbers