Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a wide range of vital processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response. It also helps the body respond to stress. The body works hard to maintain equilibrium, a balance process known as homeostasis. When a body is exposed to stress, it can trigger the fight or flight response that can release cortisol, a stress hormone. The secretion of cortisol is mainly controlled by three inter-communicating regions of the body; the hypothalamus in the brain, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland. Constant chaos can result in chronic stress and prolonged elevations of cortisol. (Johnson, T. 2022)

As climate change impacts worsen, wildfire seasons are expected to be more devastating and destructive. Wildland firefighters shifts can often be 16 hours for weeks at a time, working in zones of active disaster and climate chaos. When it comes time to return home to their "normal" lives with their families, partners, or previous personal life contexts, the adjustment period can be extremely challenging. Many firefighters use alcohol or drugs, intensive exercise, or engage in high adrenaline activities to try and come down from the intensity of fire season, and process what they had endured for long summer months. (Monthei, A. 2021)

Mental health support can alleviate the effects of cortisol and help process traumas encountered on the job, which includes training on topics such as suicide prevention, substance abuse, and isolation. More mental health support is needed for current and future firefighters, particularly as climate change impacts worsen. (Monthei, A, 2021)

"These stressors greatly affect our ability to protect the public and serve the communities we love. Yet we believe there is hope on the horizon." -- Kelly Ramsey, Comprehensive Health and Wellbeing Subcommitee Team Member

The above data are from a survey conducted by Racheal Granberg, a Senior Forestry Technician, Okanogan-Wenatchee (Washington state) National Forest, who surveyed a sample size of roughly 736 people associated with wildland management and firefighting in varying departments. The importance of this survey, though concentrated, is representation of issues that firefighters are not consulted on for insight towards solution. You can read the full report by clicking here.

Unseen consequences:

It is important to highlight that PTSD- post traumatic stress disorder- is a condition that firefighters live with everyday, and the severity of such disorder varies from individual to individual. When left untreated, PTSD can have a myriad of consequences to overall health, including significant episodes of anxiety and depression. It is known that there is a prevalent number of suicides (which will not be addressed on this page) associated with working in occupations exposed to trauma, unfortunately there isn't very concise data on the exact rate of suicide of firefighters (Granberg, n.d.).

Long term health affects:

"Long term illness is also a major concern. Negative impacts on lung function, cardiovascular health, hearing, fatigue and sleep, as well as inflammation and oxidative stress, are well-documented. The temporary seasonal workforce is not eligible for year-round health care coverage, most likely comprising a bulk of the 36.3% of respondents who do not have adequate healthcare coverage" (Granberg, n.d.).

Seasonal WFF are “laid off” at the end of every fire season, which means having to navigate unemployment resources and insurance coverage. This requires seeking assistance from local and government agencies that provide support for federal employees, which in itself can be a barrier for accessing mental health and workman's compensation support. The EAP (Employee Assistance Program) is intended to help women and men in firefighting to locate needed services such as therapists or physical health needs, yet limited accessibility to providers and insurance barriers places a further burden. Currently Workers' Compensation (or known as Workers' Comp Insurance) does not cover diagnosis such as PTSD, leaving the cost of those services to up to the individual.

This also leads to unseen impacts on family relationships. See diagram below:

Wildland firefighters are brave and committed people who physically devote themselves to protecting the livelihoods of communities and forests yet-

who's responsible for protecting their mental health and stability?

• par·a·mil·i·tar·y| ˌperəˈmiləˌterē | adjective (of an unofficial force) organized similarly to a military force: soldiers and police have been killed in conflicts with the drug cartels and their paramilitary allies. -- Webster Dictionary

Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act

The future of wildland firefighting must be protected by policy that guarantees security in benefits, higher pay wages, and access to healthcare resources.

Examples of this include legislation such as Tim's Act, which is currently in Congress. If passed, this bill would include:

• Raise federal wildland firefighter pay to at least $20 an hour; and add compensation “portal-to-portal”, increasing annual pay to at least $20,000;

• Create a federal wildland firefighter classification series, so wildland firefighters are appropriately classified for the dangerous work they are doing;

• Provide health care and mental health services to temporary and permanent wildland firefighters, including:

  • • creating a national "Federal Wildland Firefighter Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Database" to track chronic disease caused by on the job environmental exposure throughout the lives of current and past wildland firefighters, and

    • launching a mental health awareness campaign, a mental health education and training program and an extensive peer to peer mental health support network for wildland firefighters and immediate family.

• Ensure all federal wildland firefighters earn retirement benefits for temporary seasonal employment, retroactively applying to the last 10 years of service;

• Provide 1 week of mental health leave off for wildland firefighters;

• Provide housing stipends for all firefighters on duty more than 50 miles from their primary residence; and

• Provide tuition assistance for all permanent federal employees in the wildland firefighter classification. (Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, n.d.)

Please click here to read the fact sheet, and click here to see current status in congress

These are my original photos, areas of California and Oregon wildfire devastation

Thank you to the women and men who are on the frontline of wildland firefighting, your bravery and commitment will not go unrecognized, and we in public health will make sure to work alongside you our collective journey through a changing climate to protect our forests, communities, and our livelihoods. Your safety and mental health is priority.

Special thanks to my brother- J.W. who is a California Tahoe Hotshot and Idaho McCall Smokejumper and provided original photos and video content for this page.

To our readers, may you find this content inspiring, and further understand the importance of this work, and encourage you to recognize the complexities of this topic as one that impacts us as one community on this changing planet we know as home.

Cohen, J. (2022, December 16). Cortisol:10 negative health effects + surprising benefits. 10 Negative Health Effects of High Cortisol. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://selfhacked.com/blog/need-know-cortisol-health-effects/

Granberg, R. (n.d.). Barriers to recruiting and retaining federal wffs.pdf. Google Drive. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rnCpSYYMHyrkHN5gdMMwDH5Xj5DhCdJD/view

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/

Johnson, T. (2022, December 13). Cortisol: What it does & how to regulate cortisol levels. WebMD. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-cortisol

Monthei, A. (2021, January 27). Off-Season Struggles: understanding Wildland Firefighter Mental Health (No. Episode 10). In Life with Fire. https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/off-season-struggles-understanding-wildland-firefighter-mental-health-JpZVupMl

U.S. Department of the interior. Forestry Technician. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://careers.doi.gov/occupational-series/forestry-technician

US Forest Service. (n.d.). Agency Organization. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/organization

US Forest Service. (n.d.). Agency Organization. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/organization

Wildland Firefighter Foundation. (2022, November 28). Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://wffoundation.org/

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Occupational health. World Health Organization. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/occupational-health