Andy Sher
Chattanooga时间免费新闻，Tenn。
（MCT）
Feb. 24—NASHVILLE — Several dozen Tennessee firefighters and their supporters came to the Tennessee Capitol on Wednesday to honor a late Cleveland, Tennessee, firefighter who suffered from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder while advocating in his name for changes to state worker’s compensation laws to provide coverage for PTSD for firefighters.
克利夫兰消防部门上尉。詹姆斯'达斯汀的样品自杀于2020年12月11日，经过多年来与PTSD的长期斗争，据他的家人和朋友们。
That came following the Samples’ expenditure of thousands of dollars in personal savings for treatment on a medical issue not covered under government insurance plans in Tennessee, they said.
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Samples’ PTSD was brought on by his experiences in protecting lives and property, his widow, Jennifer Samples, a Cleveland city police officer, told firefighters, supporters and lawmakers at the event on Legislative Plaza across the street from Tennessee’s Capitol.
“Over the past 10 days, many of you have learned who Capt. James ‘Dustin’ Samples was,” his wife said, as the couple’s two young daughters stood nearby. “He was a 22-veteran of the Cleveland Fire Department, a leader among his peers, a daddy to three amazing kids and my best friend.
“我们建立了一个令人难以置信的生活，为未来制定了计划 - 而PTSD则偷走了美国的所有这些。达斯汀不仅仅是一个统计数据 - 他的损失不仅仅是“消防员签约了”。“
Jennifer Samples, who has a teenage son from a prior marriage, said her husband treated him as his own son.
Firefighters across the state had already taken up PTSD coverage as an issue. But with Samples’ death, it’s become a cause. City of Cleveland firefighters Nathan Kuzdzal and Drew Rader spent 10 days walking the 17o or so miles in stages from Southeast Tennessee to Nashville, with fellow firefighters, family members and other supporters joining them along the way in honor of Capt. Samples, who died at age 41, and bringing attention to the issue.
Jennifer Samples serves on the steering committee of the 303 Project, a nonprofit working to address the effect of mental health disorders on first responders. The 303 Project partnered Cleveland firefighters on the walk.
“We’re trying to get a culture change across the board where firefighters understand, ‘Hey, it’s OK to not be OK. We can get the help we need,'” Cleveland firefighter Jeremiah Million, a Samples friend, said at Wednesday’s event. “And if this bill’s passed, the legislators are saying, ‘You know, the people that serve us every day, we know there’s a problem.'”
It’s the first step in combating PTSD, Million said.
Among those speaking was Cleveland Mayor Kevin Brooks, a former legislator, who knew Samples and offered a prayer as the event began.
“Dustin tragically suffered for many, many years in silence, and that is unnecessary,” Brooks said.
He backs changes in the worker’s compensation law, Brooks said later in a phone interview with the Times Free Press.
布鲁克斯说：“当我们遇到危险时，这些男人和女性的许多人都争夺了危险。”布鲁克斯说。
The bill’s primary sponsors are Sen. Richard Briggs, a Republican physician from Knoxville, and Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, a dentist.
According to Briggs, Jennifer Samples told him her husband knew he had a problem and went into treatment, which was working.
“他们耗尽了钱，”布里格斯说。“他们不得不停止治疗。他犯了自杀。
The bill is necessary, Briggs said.
“我们不希望消防员遇到他们无法让治疗所需的问题，因为他们没有钱可以完成它，”他说。
Ramsey同意了。他说，在2001年9月11日，恐怖袭击后，人们开始意识到首批响应者是如何。
“But we failed to see what kind of pressure and stress that they’re under,” Ramsey said. “And so we’ve seen a huge increase in suicides, resulting from PTSD going unchecked and untreated in first responders.”
Sen.Todd Gardenhire，R-Chattanooga是一家法案共同赞助商。消防员，他周三在电话采访中说，看到可怕的事情 - 身体部位和烧伤的人。
“他们回去坐下来反思他们所看到的东西。这就像你应该把它关掉它。“Gardenhire说，你无法关闭它。“这项法案有助于这些家伙出来，试图让他们在没有侮辱他们可能痛苦的情况下救济。我不在乎有人认为他们是多么强壮，当你看到某人切成碎片或烧毁时，它会如何影响你的困难，它会影响你。这就是我们想要做的事情是以某种方式帮助这些人而不会把耻辱放在它上面并给予他们一些救济和帮助。“
根据财政单位，该法案每年估计为460万美元。
“We’ve got to convince the governor he’s got to do this and put it in the supplemental budget,” said Gardenhire, whose district includes part of Bradley County.
毕马。马克大厅，R-Cleveland是一家参加此次活动的法案共同赞助商，后来在一个在Cordell Hull国家办公室建设委员会的采访中表示，沉默遭受的日子结束了消防员。
“我们立法者需要集中精力努力，提供消防员，首先响应他们所需要的资源，无论是心理健康/物质滥用，PTSD，癌症筛查，馆说。“我们过去做了一项糟糕的工作，但我们在沙滩上画一条线，不再是。我们将为他们提供所需的资源。我们打算拿到这项账单并将其拉到终点线上。“
比尔收益强大的支持者
立法已经拿起了一个强大的盟友。德国·兰迪·兰迪Mcnally，来自橡树岭的共和党参议院扬声器，作为志愿者消防员。他参加了集会，并表示他支持立法，House 1356票/参议院票据1023。
“作为一个前志愿消防员,我always admired and supported our state’s firefighters. PTSD is a very real problem in the profession and has been for some time,” McNally said in a statement to the Times Free Press. “Departments across the state have struggled mightily with retention issues in recent years. I think the Dustin Samples Act is a necessary step the legislature can take to support our current firefighters and create an environment that encourages prospective firefighters to answer the call to service.”
Jennifer Samples told the crowd she and her husband talked about the stigma of seeking help for a mental health issue early on.
“达斯汀在职业生涯中经历了许多创伤事件，”她说。“就像大多数年轻的消防员一样，他没有让他在外面的内幕上感受到了什么。其他人都吮吸了它，所以他也可以。“
When things got to the point where it was completely destroying him, Jennifer Samples said, her husband took time off work and spent thousands of dollars to get help.
“He knew his very life depended on it,” she said. “However, the help was short lived, the financial burden costly. The stigma was present, and the resources were not easily accessible.”
She said when her husband considered walking away early from a 22-year career he loved, he felt he couldn’t take the financial risk.
“Well, on Dec. 11, 2020, his career did come to an end. And so did life as me and my children knew it,” she said. “You see, PTSD doesn’t just affect the firefighter, it affects the whole family: moms and dads, brothers and sisters, spouses and kids. I have two beautiful little girls who now won’t get to attend their daddy-daughter dances, or [have him] walk them down the aisle. No, PTSD stole that too.”
联系Andy Sherasher@timesfreepress.com或615-255-0550。在Twitter @ andysher1跟随他。
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