A Comprehensive Approach to Enhancing Firefighter Health, Safety, and Longevity
Foreword
The first psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology, was authored by William James and published in 1890. James Braidwood wrote the first English textbook on fire service, On the Construction of Fire Engines and Apparatus: The Training of Firemen, and the Method of Proceeding in Cases of Fire, in 1860. These leaders and authors understood a basic premise of professionalism…we all build on the work that came before us. James and Braidwood made significant contributions to their disciplines. Wheldon has now made a significant contribution to both fire and psychology.
Dr. Wheldon and I met 10 years ago; she had just started working for the Los Angeles City Fire Department as a psychologist, and I had just retired from the National Fire Academy as the Management Science Chair. I knew the National Fire Academy had no adjunct faculty who were psychologists. I also knew there should be, so I encouraged Dr. Wheldon to join the NFA faculty. Thankfully, she did.
The Fire Service typically does not let outsiders in. If a person has not crawled down a hall full of smoke, heat, and pitch blackness, we question their ability to understand or help us. The small number of students and faculty at the National Fire Academy is not like that; they embrace outside knowledge, skill, and ability.
From this humble beginning, Kristen instantly recognized the need to bridge the gap between psychology and the fire service. She was the only licensed psychologist in the Los Angeles City Fire Department, whereas there were dozens of licensed psychologists in the surrounding police departments. There was National Fire Academy content related to psychology that had not been vetted through the psychology discipline. There were NFPA standards related to psychology that had not been vetted through the psychology discipline. Even the American Psychology
Association only tacitly included the fire service by using the phrase …military, police, and other first responders. In 2024, there were only 72 psychology dissertations with the word firefighter in the title compared to 442 with the word police officer (ProQuest).
I’ve been in the fire service for 55 years; it became my calling. From the beginning, I have been an outlier. I now understand why, because in my youth, I was a lifeguard and swimming instructor. A basic premise of water safety is that the lifeguard does not exchange their life for the person they are trying to save. When a lifeguard dies trying to rescue someone, it is not considered heroic. Something went wrong. This is the exact opposite of a firefighter dying. With a firefighter, it’s called a line of duty death, a heroic sacrifice, part of the job. This is a deeply held construct in the fire service and in society. I see this as philosophically, psychologically, and culturally dysfunctional. And so, I am still an outlier. “You are not wrong.” This is how Dr. Wheldon repeatedly counsels me and gives me the courage to keep sharing my beliefs.
This book is the first of its kind, but it will not be the last. More psychologists will study, research, and share their thoughts about the fire service discipline. This can only help “…increase the professionalism of the fire service and others, engaged in fire prevention and control activity.” (purpose of the NFA PL 93498). Dr. Kristen Wheldon will be the first to celebrate a 50-year career as a fire service psychologist. There will be many more. Their work will increase the quality of life for firefighters and the communities they serve and protect.
It is an honor to be part of this beginning, I am grateful.
Mount Airy, MD, USA Dr. Burton A. Clar, EFO
