From deadly fires and crashes to shootings and incidents involving children, Cincinnati Fire Department firefighters/EMTs are tasked with responding, treating the victims and attempting to save as many lives as possible.Many will tell you the calls that stay with them are the ones they can't save."I have many memories of many faces of people that we were unsuccessful in saving," said Chief Michael A. Washington. "Every firefighter that does this job has a bank of memories. Those memories never leave you. They're just as vivid as they happened the day you were there. They never go away."Washington has been with the department for 30 years and worked his way through the ranks. He said decades ago, the way most firefighters were taught to cope with tough calls was much different."It was push through, get over it, get ready for the next call, suck it up," he said. "I think people coped with risky behaviors: drinking, gambling."That is now how Washington wants to lead his department 800+ strong in 2022. He wants his firefighters to know there is help available and feel comfortable asking for it. "We all knew that we needed a band-aid for mental health. We just didn't know what type of band-aid to apply," Washington said. He himself was diagnosed with PTSD a few years ago. The chief recently appointed Joseph Elliott, a fire apparatus operator, to serve as the department's first peer support coordinator. He started this month. Many departments in the region and neighboring states already peer support coordinators.Elliott leads the peer support program, which has been in place at the department for six years, but loosely. A grant the department applied for and won is helping fund Elliott's new full-time role. He oversees a team of 45 firefighters that are trained to listen and direct peers to professional help if they need it. Some of those calls for help go directly to Elliott's cell. He recalled one a few weeks ago that may have saved a life."I was off duty, picked them in my own personal vehicle and actually took them to an in-patient treatment facility to get some help cause they were in a very, very bad place," Elliott said.He added that already in 2022, about 60 CFD firefighters reached out through the peer support program. Three of them entered in-patient treatment facilities."It's OK to not be OK. It's OK to ask for help," Elliott said. "We see things every day people aren't supposed to see."Elliott pointed to a national survey conducted by the International Association of Firefighters. Of 7,000 firefighters surveyed across the country, 81 percent said they did not seek mental health help because of stigma.Elliott said the survey also found the suicide rate among firefighters is six times higher than the general population.The department lost a member to suicide about a decade ago, according to Washington."Not a day goes by I don't think about him. I still remember the last conversation I had with him," Washington said. "To see somebody suffer right before you and you don't even know it, that hurt more than anything else."A few years later, a firefighter was on duty when she learned a close relative, a member of the police department, died by suicide. "I remember the screams, the yelling, the hysterical-ness of the situation and not knowing who to call," Washington said.Now, that problem is solved. Washington is confident the current city administration will continue to prioritize the program in the future.