Firefighters attend state's first behavioral health training
EVERETT — Washington state firefighters gathered at South County Fire’s headquarters in Everett on Friday morning for their first official behavioral health training.
About 50 firefighters from 10 fire departments attended the training, which was the first-ever in Washington state. South County Fire and the director of the University of Washington’s Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach Response and Education program co-led the training.
South County Fire saw a nearly 50% increase in behavioral health calls in the past two years and approximately 1,900 in the last year, South County Fire Capt. Nicole Picknell said. The COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the increase, said Jennifer Stuber, director of the university program.
“There was a perfect storm, coming out of the pandemic, of really high rates of mental health challenges, substance use disorders, mental health crises, opioids and suicidality,” Stuber said. “People have been trained to call 911 when they have emergencies. Since there are firefighters all over the state, sometimes they’re the only ones who can actually respond.”
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