Police officers, firefighters and paramedics face higher rates of depression and PTSD than the general population. They’re more likely to die by suicide than they are to die in the line of duty, according to a white paper commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation.
That’s why Boardman Township is creating a wellness center that will address the mental health needs of first responders across three counties in northeast Ohio. It will offer space for counseling, a gym and training areas for 152 responding agencies in the area.
Boardman Township police chief Todd Werth said he’s proud to see the Mahoning Valley area work to protect its public safety workers.
“The healthier our first responders are, the less sick days, the less distractions, the less trauma, first responders [can better] focus on their jobs … keeping the community safe,” Werth said.
Roadblocks for first responders
For a long time, Werth said the mantra of first responders was to be tough, regardless of the toll of their careers.
Now, that’s shifting, he said. Across the country, agencies are trying to address the second-hand trauma first responders experience.
“From day one, looking at their mental health, mental wellbeing, not only at the agencies, but also at home with families and everything else,” he said.
In order to do so, Werth said first responders need a place of their own, like the new wellness center. He said it’s even more important because public safety workers can face stigma when seeking care.
“Police, fire, EMS dispatch are reluctant to go to some of those agencies that a lot of people that we interact [with] are already going to,” he said. “People that we run into in the course of our business that we're trying to help, you're going to some of those mental health agencies that those same people are there.
A potential model
The project was funded using Boardman Township and Mahoning County opioid settlement dollars. The township modelled it after the Summit Wellness Center in Louisville, which opened to first responders in 2023.
“This was a way for us to give something back to them,” said township trustee Steve Yacovone. “You see the rising incidents of self-harm in first responders, suicides in first responders. We wanted to offer a facility that can kind of combat that.”
Werth hopes it can prove to be a model for other responding agencies across the state.
“Having the ability to bring in these mental health professionals that have worked with first responders, understand first responders and kind of lay that framework to where we understand what's happening to us: it just helps us navigate that,” Werth said. “You feel like you're not alone.”
