Suicide in Firefighters

[ysabetwordsmith]

Amazingly, if you mistreat people, they tend to die on you.  Most of the talk essentially blames the victims, such as implying they don't know how to handle mental stress properly, and the few solutions are aimed at counseling.  You know what would really help?  Paying firefighters better, hiring enough of them so they can go off-duty on a reasonable schedule instead of burning out, ensuring they have year-round health care and employment and support networks.  Funny how nobody is suggesting that.

It's a wonder any of these guys keep coming back to that shitty job.

Comments

[ioplokon]

wow. this makes the training & use of prison inmates as firefighters even more unethical.

[conuly]

For shitty, shitty, shitty pay. (And don't talk to me about how "volunteers are unpaid".)

[ioplokon]

tbh i think the most offensive thing to me is that they are almost certainly barred from becoming firefighters upon release. like, i'm not opposed to there being some kind of journeyman process for incarcerated people but.... it should be focused on helping people transition into actual careers outside of prison rather than providing cheap labor for the state or private companies.

but yeah i know people who've been seasonal firefighters and dropped it for worse-paying stuff bc it's so difficult emotionally as well as physically.

[conuly]

Everything about how we manage prison labor is fucked up morally. Firefighting just is the worst of the worst, no matter how much the people in that job prefer it to their other options.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Everything about how we manage prison labor is fucked up morally. <<

I agree.

>> Firefighting just is the worst of the worst, no matter how much the people in that job prefer it to their other options. <<

It gets them outdoors and gives them something interesting to do. For those who prefer death to their current or future situation, firefighting provides a good chance at that which won't be blocked by the overseers. So that's a logical decision.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> tbh i think the most offensive thing to me is that they are almost certainly barred from becoming firefighters upon release.<<

Yes, society is simply using people. This will hardly teach prisoners to behave better; instead, it teaches more of the "might makes right" that got them in trouble in the first place. Because former inmates are barred, de jure or de facto, from almost all jobs that might pay enough to live on -- and in many cases also barred from the social support network available to other poor people -- more crime is pretty much the only option left for survival. While a majority of them choose crime over starving to death, it should be no surprise that some others prefer death.

>> like, i'm not opposed to there being some kind of journeyman process for incarcerated people but.... it should be focused on helping people transition into actual careers outside of prison rather than providing cheap labor for the state or private companies. <<

I agree. Since prisoners have obviously failed to succeed at their current level, they need more resources -- not more restrictions -- if they are to have any chance of functioning as citizens. Making their life even harder after release just means that most of them will fail. So they need access to education, job training, health care, etc. if they want those things.

>> but yeah i know people who've been seasonal firefighters and dropped it for worse-paying stuff bc it's so difficult emotionally as well as physically. <<

Very sensible of them. Perhaps if more of America burns down, society will learn to reward its rescue workers well enough to make the job more attractive.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> For shitty, shitty, shitty pay. <<

Yes. It's legal to pay prisoners less than a dollar an hour. That's wage theft, and is a key reason why capitalists like to abuse them. If we made the minimum wage apply to ALL employees and ALL jobs, then abusing prisoners in this manner would become much less attractive.

Similarly, if we raised the minimum wage to a living wage (i.e. the amount required to buy all the stuff society insists on people having such as a home, clothes, health care, college, and so on) then that would solve many of the problems we're having with poverty, welfare, and classism. It should also reduce rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

But those are very unpopular solutions.

>> (And don't talk to me about how "volunteers are unpaid".) <<

Some volunteers do it because they like it. However, many do it because they can't stand leaving important things undone, and they would rather let people take advantage of them than watch their state burn to the ground. Others would prefer paying work but there isn't any, so they'll volunteer rather than do nothing, in hopes that it will help them get a paying job later, maybe, someday. Given these latter categories, it is unsurprising that the suicide rate is high.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's true. However, firefighting does offer a reasonable chance of escape through death, which for some prisoners is part of the appeal.

Re: Yes ...

[technoshaman]

For some it's death, for some it's adrenaline rush, for some, once traumatized, it's the only world that makes sense to them. (qv. "The Hurt Locker"...)

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Those are also reasons why it appeals to various people.