Garland firefighters provide emotional support for Florida condo collapse first responders

GARLAND, Texas - Three firefighters from North Texas are back from helping crews digging through the condo building collapse in Florida.

But they weren't there to help with the search, they provided a different kind of support.

Captain J.D. Schulgen and Lt. Matt Brawner are Garland firefighters — two of three specially trained peer counselors deployed from Texas to the Surfside, Florida building collapse.

They helped fellow firefighters at the disaster site and at various fire stations process their emotions about what they were going through.

"We weren’t just random professions that were there to talk to them, we were peers, we were part of the same trade and they welcomed us into their fire stations," said Brawner.

"The Surfside incident like that is so tragic," said Schulgen. "But the other part of that is we are still going to PD CPRs and suicides and homicides and car wrecks and normal things that we do day in and day out as firefighters, so the cumulative effect of the stress is ongoing for firefighters."

Schulgen says they aim to remove the stigma from addressing mental health. Not just because it’s helpful, but necessary. 

"Florida State University in 2017 showed us that more fire fighters are killed by suicide more than line of duty deaths, which is a tragedy," Schulgen said.

Fourteen of 270 Garland firefighters are trained in peer counseling. And when they need to talk, they look to reach other.

"This was my first time to actually deploy for our peer support team," Brawner said.

It was Schulgen’s sixth time, including the El Paso Walmart Shooting in August 2019 and then later that same month, the Midland mass shooting. He takes comfort in knowing he’s done his part to help fellow firefighters cope, but knows those in Surfside will need counseling well after the last victim is found.

"I’m hoping that they get the help that they need and their families too," Schulgen said.