Portland Fire Department has full-time mental health counselor [Video]

PORTLAND, Maine — Firefighters are trained to show up to calls, assess the situation, and quickly help those in trouble, all while putting aside any feelings about what they see or experience. 

But it’s not just fires they respond to; it’s suicides, child abuse cases, shootings, overdoses, and fatal crashes, to name a few. Long after the emergency is over, firefighters themselves are sometimes the ones who are in need of “rescue.”

NEWS CENTER Maine reporter Hannah Yechivi spent time with the department to get an up close and personal look at how the Portland Fire Department is leading the way not only in Maine but in the nation regarding changing the culture around talking and dealing with mental health and trauma.

Portland’s Fire Department receives …