Seoul to slash firefighters' psychological support budget despite rising PTSD cases

Social Affairs

Published: 01 Nov. 2023, 14:49

Seoul to slash firefighters' psychological support budget despite rising PTSD cases

Firefighters compete in the National Firefighter Haeundae LCT Stair Competition in Busan on Oct. 26, 2022. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is expected to cut next year's budget for firefighters' psychological support, even as more and more emergency workers complain of traumatic stress.

According to data shared by Democratic Party (DP)’s Seoul Metropolitan Council member Park Kang-san, the budget allocated for clinical consultations for first responders will likely drop from this year's 816 million won ($604,000) to 466 million won next year, returning to 2019-2022 levels before the deadly crowd crush that occurred in Itaewon last October.

The central government’s plan for next year remained the same as last year at around 3.7 billion won.

The city government’s budget cuts come amid surging numbers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases among firefighters in Korea.

The percentage of firefighters with PTSD rose from 5.1 percent in 2020 to 8.1 percent last year.

The number of firefighters who claimed their own lives nationwide nearly doubled from 12 deaths in 2020 to 21 in 2022.

Firefighters say support programs have helped them overcome traumatic stress.

A firefighter working in Seoul who responded to theItaewon tragedy last year said he is slowly recovering from traumatic stress with the help of therapists at his fire station.

“I could not fall asleep for a while because of endless nightmares,” the firefighter said, speaking to the JoongAng Ilbo. “After work, I tried to erase all the horrific memories by drinking alcohol.”

After the incident, the firefighter drank almost every day until he started talking to a therapist at his fire station.

A firefighter talks with a therapist at Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters in central Seoul on May 30. The headquarters was the first place in the country to offer face-to-face counseling sessions for firefighters. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN FIRE & DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]

The government has been trying to help fire personnel overcome psychological issues caused by work, including hiring therapists at fire stations.

The number of counseling sessions for firefighters in Seoul rose from 4,391 in 2019 to 7,067 last year. As of last month, 5,261 counseling sessions had been completed this year.

Given the increasing number of firefighters suffering from traumatic stress, the fire authorities had requested the city government to increase its budget for psychological support to 1.4 billion won for next year.

However, the city government refused, stating that the central government and the city should be responsible for equal portions of the program, as before.

Consequently, the budget cut is expected to reduce the number of therapists dispatched to fire stations in the city from the current 15 to 6.

A mobile application that enables online consultation may be halted due to cost issues despite 283 counseling sessions conducted over the last three months.

“Cutting budgets when even the treatment of firefighters reporting PTSD symptoms is not properly handled is neglecting PTSD management,” an official from the firefighters’ labor union said, adding that firefighters are one of the public officials who experience PTSD the most.

“This creates problems in emergency rescue situations, ultimately harming the people.”

Park also stressed, “Budget allocations in the budget review committee must be restored to a level higher than this year to ensure timely trauma therapy for firefighters.”

BY LEE CHAN-KYU [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]