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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Staff with Austin’s police, fire and EMS departments who participated in a survey addressing mental health concerns and resources pointed to lack of sleep, workloads and staffing shortages as contributing more to mental health and wellness issues than traumatic events themselves, according to this report from the City Auditor.
The audit outlined the following wellness resources available to first responders in Austin, varying by department:
- Psychologists
- Peer support specialists
- Chaplains
- Fitness and medical resources
- Pet therapy teams
- Employee Assistance Program
About 750 sworn staff members across the three departments took the survey. Roughly 45% of participants said they were generally satisfied with their department’s mental health resources and “believe their department is doing enough for their health and wellness.”
More than 30% of them expressed confidentiality concerns regarding taking advantage of mental health services. Additionally, “some employees felt that policies surrounding taking time off for mental health reasons were unclear or insufficient. Even when allowed, an APD employee reported that they felt taking time for mental reasons was looked down upon because it puts stress on coworkers to fill gaps.”
Austin Police Association president Michael Bullock said part of that stress comes from – at least at APD – officers worrying about how taking allotted time off may impact their teammtes.
“There’s almost this guilt that kind of comes along with it where if you take care of yourself, you’re not meeting the purpose of your job, why you were called to the profession in the first place,” Bullock said. “I’ve been with officers after these critical incidents where there was someone that was on the shift that wasn’t there when a critical incident occurred. And a lot of people have a sense of guilt because they weren’t there and everyone else had to deal with this horrible situation and they weren’t there to help.”
The audit states that first responders overwhelmingly feel supported by their peers and feel less support from department management and city staff.
“The impacts made by decisions within department leadership and within the city have a significant, if not the most significant, impact on public safety employees,” Bullock said. “Officers’ feeling of support has one of the biggest impacts on morale.”
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