UH Hilo psychology professor Chris Frueh presents his research to local first responders: The professions bring medical, social, psychological conditions
Professor Frueh’s research shows firefighting involves regular exposure to chronic stress, lethal risks, and potential for a wide range of injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and toxic exposures.
By Susan Enright.
A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo psychology professor who researches the mental and physical health of people with post traumatic stress disorder with particular attention to military veterans and first responders, is sharing his first responder findings with police, firefighters, and associated support services on Hawaiʻi Island.
Professor of Psychology Chris Frueh gave a half-day workshop at an annual Hilo police department event on March 21 and is scheduled to do a similar workshop with the Kona fire department on April 28.
The first responder research is related to Frueh’s findings now published in Operator Syndrome (March 2024, Ballast Books), a book that reflects his 30 years of experience in clinical trials, historical epidemiology, and neuroscience research, including over a decade investigating the physical and mental health of special operators across all branches of the U.S. military. Frueh’s findings are stark: military personnel are plagued with a unique and brutal combination of injuries born out of years, even decades, of fighting the Global War on Terror.
- New book: UH Hilo Professor of Psychology Chris Frueh investigates medical-psych injuries in former military special operators (March 25, 2024, UH Hilo Stories)
“[My] work on Operator Syndrome is changing the way we understand and treat the complex set of interrelated health, psychological, and interpersonal difficulties that are common downstream outcomes of a career in military special operations,” says Frueh, who has discovered startling similarities between these health issues in military vets and those found in first responders, notably firefighters.
The health risks of first responders
In an article on Firefighter Syndrome published in 2023 at the website Crackyl, Frueh and his co-authors (which include two UH Hilo alumni) say there is a profound lack of medical research examining firefighters’ health risks and trajectories over time.
- UH Hilo Professor of Psychology Chris Frueh: A career in firefighting includes medical, psychological, and social strains (Aug. 22, 2023, UH Hilo Stories)
Frueh and research team say firefighting involves regular exposure to chronic stress, lethal risks, and potential for a wide range of injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and toxic exposures. The researchers write that the “accumulation of these physiological, physical, psychological, and neuroendocrine injuries (i.e., high allostatic load) can lead to profound physiological changes upon the individual.”
“We believe it leads to a profession-specific constellation of interrelated medical, social, and psychological conditions,” write the authors. “A whole systems framework can help us better understand and address the complex needs of firefighters.” This framework includes brain injury, toxic exposures, hormonal dysfunction, sleep disturbance such as apnea, pain, substance abuse, PTSD, depression, anger, worry, relationship problems, and more.
The authors developed a questionnaire and guidelines intended to educate firefighters when seeking support and health care; topics covered include suicide risk assessment, peer support, how to find and vet a primary care provider, and how to observe and evaluate lifestyle.
Bringing much needed attention to the occurrence of Firefighter Syndrome in Hawaiʻi Island first responders
Frueh was invited to speak to Hawaiʻi Island first responders by Renee Godoy, chaplain of both the fire and police departments who also runs Friends of First Responders Hawaiʻi Island, a local non-profit committed to the mental health and relational wellness of first responders and their families. Chaplain Godoy read Prof. Frueh’s article on Firefighter Syndrome, which led her to read his book Operator Syndrome.
She then reached out to Frueh to ask if he would present his work to local first responders and associated support personnel, to which he readily said yes.
Frueh’s March 21 presentation was attended by several local police officers, firefighters, and chaplains at the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Annual Refresher Training for their Peer Support Unit members, held in Hilo.
“The Peer Support Unit provides critical psychological first aid for first responders who are regularly exposed to trauma from critical incidents,” says Godoy. “Dr. Frueh’s presentation helped them understand the many physiological impacts that, in turn, affect their mental health, as well as the current treatments that are available.”
“He was a great speaker and has such vast knowledge on this topic,” she adds.
Godoy says Frueh’s upcoming talk in Kona will include training with the fire department on Firefighter Syndrome.
“He is credited with doing much needed research into the impacts that the constant exposure to critical incidents has on firefighters and paramedics and bringing much needed attention to it through his work,” says Godoy.
The word is spreading: Workshops across the country
The Operator Syndrome framework has also been picked up by law enforcement and fire departments around the country.
“I’ll be presenting a half-day workshop to the New Orleans regional [Drug Enforcement Administration] office, presenting in Arkansas, in about three weeks,” says Frueh. “Apparently, other DEA offices learned about it, and now agents are coming in from around the country.”
Frueh says a start up company led by current and former military special operators has developed a business to provide coaching services to first responders using the Operator Syndrome framework.
“In the past six months, they have signed up state and federal law enforcement and fire departments all over the country,” says Frueh. “It’s a really great concept, retired [Special Operation Forces] operators continuing service by coaching and mentoring police and firefighters. They are doing more to spread the Operator Syndrome framework and physiological perspective nationally, than I could ever do by myself.”
Learn more about Prof. Frueh’s research and publications on the Keaohou website and on the professor’s website.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories.
