Safety & Wellness

The Executive Assistant Chief over the bureau oversees invaluable programs that help promote the mental and physical health and resilience of our employees who work in high-stress environments.  Components of the Safety and Wellness program that support these efforts include Chaplain Services, which helps our members with hospital visitations, funeral arrangements, special ceremonies, community engagement, and other ancillary but essential responsibilities.  DFR’s Peer Support Program includes specially trained employees who can mobilize to support members needing assistance with emotional stressors that may impact employee work performance and mental wellness.  As it is critical to maintaining an employee workforce that is also physically fit, DFR’s Wellness program is designed so that members undergo comprehensive medical evaluations such as cardiac stress testing.  This program has proven invaluable as these medical evaluations have detected occult cancer and heart blockages that might otherwise remain undetected.  Through treatment and rehabilitation, members' careers and lives have been extended.  The Safety team has extensive responsibilities, including After-Action Analysis, which is needed to conduct root cause analysis of injuries involving our members during nonemergency and emergency response work.  This includes collaboration with other bureaus focused on the mission of employee injury prevention.  Finally, another critical aspect of the bureau includes protective firefighting gear deployment and maintenance by collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.  DFR operations and the National Fire Service have evolved to focus efforts on cancer prevention due to a higher risk of firefighters developing these diseases.  Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens found in products of combustion at structure fires and other emergency incidents.  Ensuring clean firefighting gear and equipment is championed through the Safety and Wellness team.