There is no long-term mental health care for volunteer first responders in South Dakota.
That’s the message from testifiers speaking to a state legislative committee. They say firefighters, police officers, and EMTs suffer from PTSD.
Tami Haug Davis is a therapist at Key Solutions in Sioux Falls. She says a lot of first responders in South Dakota respond to accidents where they happen to know all of the victims.
“Even if they choose to reach out and get some counselling, they know everyone on the community or they know the therapist and they’re not ready to divulge or be vulnerable with people that they know,” Haug Davis says. “So we have to look at the next tier possible of how can we create a system that gives them access to resources.”
Haug Davis says while first responders in urban communities may have access to help, she says there’s room for more.
State Representative Ryan Cwach led the push for a summer study on PTSD in first responders. The Democrat from Yankton is co-chair of the committee. He says volunteer first responders aren’t getting the help they need.
“Ninety-two percent of all our first responders in the state of South Dakota—with the exception of police officers—are actually volunteers,” Cwach says. “We have these people who are—for no pay—responding to fires, responding to accidents. Sometimes that produces post traumatic type symptoms in them. But, we don’t have the resources to help these volunteers out.”
Cwach says the legislative committee is figuring out the scope of the issue and how it affects the public. He says the hope is to craft some legislation for next year’s session.
