Modern medicine and society have placed too much emphasis on PTSD. That is only a small part of a much larger problem. A search of all medical journals in 2021 found only 499 articles about firefighters, compared to 15,299 for veterans. Making firefighters one of the least well understood highly-at-risk populations. We believe there is a profession-specific constellation of inter-related medical, social, and psychological conditions. We suggest taking a whole systems approach for firefighters that we have adapted from a framework applied toward military special operators, known as “Operator Syndrome” led by PYROC’s own Co-founder Dr. Christopher Frueh. PYROC’s whole systems framework will help us better understand and address the complex needs of those impacted. We call this framework ‘firefighter syndrome.’ “Firefighter syndrome” considers multiple relevant and interrelated domains of health, wellness, and functioning. “Firefighter Syndrome” involves pathophysiological injuries at the molecular and cellular level of every system in the body, interacting adversely with behavioral and social functioning.
