Could bringing back the fire station dog help first responders cope with stress?

BOLTON, Mass. — You've heard of service dogs helping people who come back from war, but now one local fire department will be the first to have one at a fire station -- not as a mascot -- but to help with the rising risk of suicide among first responders.

This is something we've reported on extensively with our series Burden of the Badge.

We're learning about the new tools being used by police and fire to help those who help us. Whether it's in a police station, fire station, or ambulance -- the mental health concern is real.

More police officers die from taking their own lives than in the line of duty.

Blue Help, based in Massachusetts, tracks the number of suicides among law enforcement. Nationally, they've gone up each year since 2016 when there were 142 officers who took their own lives. The next year it was 164. Then another slight increase in 2018.

So far this year, they've recorded 66 officer suicides.

Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Fredrickson told me he's seen his share of officers and friends take their own lives.

MORE: Burden of the Badge: The alarming rate of suicide among first responders

"We've put together a Cape-wide group that are working together to develop a policy, so every department can adopt the same policy to address peer support and wellness," Chief Fredrickson said. "I think we're seeing [a difference] already."

It includes incentives for mental wellness checks, while other agencies are also trying new ideas.

"I''ve had my exposure to incidents and not getting help," Bolton Fire Chief Jeff Legendre said.

He says it has motivated him to help his own department. They're raising $8,000 to go toward getting a therapy dog.

The chief admits it may sound different but believes the impact will be invaluable.

"We're finding that it may be the way to break somebody's apprehension about talking and it may open that dialogue with a coworker," Chief Legendre said. "If we save one person or we get the one person to seek counseling, then I think it's worth it."

The company that trains the dogs, called NEADS, says many of their dogs are used by veterans' groups to help soldiers who come back from war.

They say the Bolton Fire Department is the first fire station to get one.

MORE: The Burden of the Badge: How will we know if stigma is being erased?

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