National Recovery and Suicide Prevention Month
September is National Recovery Month and Suicide Prevention Month. Join us as we spotlight these two critical behavioral health issues. Mark your calendars for our lineup below, and stay tuned to IAFF social media (@iaffofficial) throughout the month for resources to share with others.
What is recovery?
- Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential.
- Recovery can apply to individuals coping with mental health challenges, substance use disorders, or both.
- Recovery is deeply personal and can mean something different to everyone. One way to think about recovery is creating and sustaining a life worth living after a period of physical, mental, or spiritual illness.
How can we prevent suicide?
- Suicide is a complex public health problem that requires a multi-pronged approach to affect change and save lives. Important suicide prevention strategies include:
- Promoting robust social connections
- Creating supportive and non-punitive environments that promote help-seeking behavior
- Early identification and intervention of persons at risk for suicide
- Improving access to delivery of suicide care
- The 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, recently established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a national comprehensive 10-year approach to suicide prevention that engages all layers of society through 15 concrete recommendations. Access the report in its entirety here: 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
- Please tune into our live webinar on Sept. 10 to learn more about what the IAFF is doing to prevent suicide.
SPECIAL EVENTS
- Sept. 9-13: IAFF Suicide Prevention Stand Down Week
- Click here to view our 5-day call to action plan in the updated 2024 IAFF Suicide Prevention Stand Down toolkit.
- Sept. 10: Live webinar event
- Register for Suicide Prevention the Fire Service: Strategies to Save a Life. Tune in from 12-1:30 p.m. EST. Can’t make it? Register anyway to receive the recording.
- Sept. 24: Live webinar event
- Register for Addiction Recovery and the Power of Peer Support. Tune in from 12-1:30 p.m. EST. Can’t make it? Register anyway to receive the recording.
IMPORTANT RESOURCES
- The Safety Planning Intervention for Suicide Prevention Training is a two-hour, on-demand training designed exclusively to teach IAFF-trained peers how to complete a safety plan with a fire fighter who is at risk of making a suicide attempt. A safety plan is an evidence-based intervention that helps a distressed person recognize when they are experiencing a suicidal crisis and activate personalized, prioritized coping skills at the moment to keep themselves safe. IAFF log-in required.
- IAFF Online Recovery Meetings are an essential form of recovery support for hundreds of IAFF members and fire service personnel living in addiction or recovery. Meetings occur every Friday and Sunday. No registration required, simply click to join.
- Helping Members in Recovery is a two-hour on-demand awareness-level training designed for any fire service personnel who want to support others who are recovering from a mental health or substance use disorder. IAFF log-in required.
- IAFF Information Guides
- Report a Suicide Death of an IAFF member
- If your IAFF Local has experienced the suicide death of an IAFF member, affiliates are strongly encouraged to report the suicide death to the IAFF. Suicide death reports help the IAFF collect data to understand the scope of fire fighter suicide and connect the local affiliate to resources. Reports must be made by a Local officer by visiting https://www.iaff.org/lodd/#report-suicide-death.