An old friend of mine killed herself last night. She wasn’t the first. She won’t be the last. 

Read that again. 

In EMS, we know depression, stress and suicide to be among the highest in any industry in the United States. We know these statistics, but we continue to do little about it. Why is that? Why are we so convinced that the simply researching this issue is significant enough to cause a change in our culture? We’ve already determined that suicide rates among EMS providers is exponentially higher than the general population[1] and we continue to provide lip service to the importance of mental health in our profession without committing to any real change. But as long as all our charts are completed on time, our employers are happy.