By Justin Champion
In the fire service, immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) refers to situations like smoke-choked hallways, flashovers, collapse zones and hazmat incidents. These are the moments we’ve trained for, the threats we can see, feel and measure. When the bell rings, we never face those dangers alone — we suit up, roll out and rely on our crew.
But there’s another IDLH that’s just as deadly, and far too often, firefighters face it by themselves — and in silence. It doesn’t register on a gas meter. It doesn’t send visible flames through the roof. It’s inside our own minds. And it’s claiming more firefighter lives than any fire ever will.
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The mental IDLH is real
NIOSH defines an IDLH as an environment that poses an immediate threat to life, causes irreversible health effects or impairs escape. The mental and emotional toll of this job checks all these boxes.
Sleepless nights after a pediatric fatality. Numbness that pushes you away from the people you love. A bottle becomes the coping mechanism. Marriages are strained to breaking. Quiet moments when you wonder if the world would be better without you.
These are not just “bad days.” They are operational threats to a firefighter’s life, career and family.
The silent killer: Stigma
We still live in a culture that too often equates vulnerability with weakness. Firefighters, especially those in leadership positions, pride themselves on being the ones who run in when others run out. But that pride has a dangerous shadow — the belief that asking for help means you’re not cut out for the job.
That stigma forces firefighters into mental IDLH conditions without a rapid intervention team (RIT) in sight. Imagine a firefighter in a collapse zone with a dwindling air supply, refusing to call a mayday because they’re afraid of what others will think — unthinkable on the fireground, yet it’s happening every day in our stations.
Leaders, it starts with us. If we aren’t creating a culture where mental health conversations are as normal as tool checks, we’re failing our people.
Leading the rescue
Just as we build accountability and trust on the fireground, we must also build it in our mental wellness approach.
Here’s how leaders can make it happen:
- Normalize the conversation, and share your own struggles when appropriate. If you’re in a leadership role, your crew takes cues from you. Be an example that it’s OK to ask for help.
- Establish peer support teams trained to respond to mental health concerns just like RIT responds to physical entrapment.
- Provide access to culturally competent therapists who understand the unique challenges of first responders.
- Implement regular check-ins — not just physicals, but mental health assessments as routine as SCBA testing.
- Train officers to recognize warning signs and intervene early.
This isn’t just a “nice to have”; it’s survival equipment. Much like we would never accept outdated gear or faulty air packs, we cannot tolerate underfunded or neglected mental health programs.
The numbers don’t lie
In recent years, firefighter suicides have outnumbered line-of-duty deaths. Every one of those losses was preventable. These aren’t statistics — they’re names, faces and empty chairs at the kitchen table.
The rescue isn’t coming from somewhere else. It’s up to us, especially those wearing bugles, to notice, reach out and stay present.
A call to action for leaders
If you call yourself a fire service leader, this is your fire. You wouldn’t hesitate to take command of a working structure fire, so exercise the same command presence when addressing mental health threats.
Integrate mental wellness into recruit training. Make it part of your officer development programs. Recognize that a mentally healthy crew is a safer, more effective crew.
If you’re struggling, you are not weak, broken or alone. And if you lead others, your willingness to step into the mental IDLH with them may be the lifeline that saves their career — or their life.
The question isn’t whether the mental IDLH exists. The question is: Will you go in? I know I will.
| WATCH: 10 red flag phrases that signal first responders are struggling with stress
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Justin Champion is a combat veteran, fire instructor and mental health advocate with nearly two decades in the fire service. He is the founder of From the Ashes LLC, where he trains firefighters across the country in fireground leadership, tactics and mental wellness.
