Despite the fact more than 100 firefighters die in the line of duty every year in the United States, many departments still do not have plans in place on what to do when tragedy strikes.
It means if the worst does happen, both firefighters and surviving family members face an even tougher struggle to cope with their grief.
The need to pre-plan for line of duty deaths in order to offer support was stressed at a classroom session at the FDIC in Indianapolis Thursday.
With 20 years in the fire service in various capacities and 11 years of law enforcement experience, session leader Paul Antonellis Jr. was well equipped to outline the basic notification processes for LODDs and grief principles.
"Many don’t know what to do," he said. "You hear, 'We had a great LODD funeral, that was great closure,' but you ask any survivor, and there's no such thing as full closure."
With pressures on time and money for many departments, pre-planning for LODDs is often put on the backburner.
However, Antonellis said it is vital to make more of an effort to have guidelines in place, to help both the surviving family members and to address potential future issues for the victim’s former colleagues.
"What happens when you respond to that same address again?" said Antonellis.
"Don't you think a lot of feelings and emotions … are going to come back?"
When it comes to surviving family members, Antonellis said there are several areas of support to consider.
They include:
• Emotional
• Requests for information
• Acting as a liaison between the organization and family
• Acting as liaison between the hospital and family
• Acting as liaison between the media and family
For those responsible for making notifications, Antonellis explained how basic rules must be followed before any action is taken:
• Have a positive ID for each of the deceased.
• Establish protocol within the department not to discuss a fatality over the radio or media.
• Quickly gather as much information about the incident as possible before making a notification
• Make sure each family is notified and by whom.
When the moment comes to actually notify family members, said Antonellis, one of the most vital things is to do it in pairs.
"The person who utters the words 'dead or died' becomes the bad person in that survivor's eyes … that survivor essentially shuts down," he said. "What you just did was traumatize that survivor. You have taken a baseball bat and hit them square between the eyes."
In that situation, said Antonellis, the role of the second person to take over was vital.
Other tips for making the notification include:
• Do it in uniform
• Don't do it on the doorstep
• Don't take personal belongings
• Know personal data
• Know incident details
• Be prepared for physical/emotional outbursts
It is also necessary to keep details as basic as possible, so the survivor can ask for more information as and when they are ready, according to Antonellis.
"Deliver it like it was one of your family members," he said.
