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SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

Posted by on 04/16/2019

April 16, 2019

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, we have selected Elizabeth Henderson to receive one of five Scholarships that we have to offer. Elizabeth is the recipient of the Firefighter Timothy J. Karnisky Scholarship in the amount of $500.00.Elizabeth is currently a doctoral candidate in the school of nursing at Northeastern University in Boston Massachusetts. Her dissertation research is focused on suicide prevention among professional firefighters, a topic of interest that developed during her career as a firefighter. Elizabeth is a former full-time Firefighter/Paramedic, having proudly been a member of the fire service for over 15 years before leaving in good standing to pursue her doctoral degree full-time.  She is the spouse of a Firefighter/Paramedic and the daughter-in-law of a retired Fire Chief. Elizabeth lost her grandfather, a retired volunteer firefighter, to suicide. She is passionate about bringing awareness to mental health in firefighters and about stopping suicide among firefighters and first responders. 

In addition, she has also worked as registered nurse for over 19 years, having spent the majority of her clinical career as an emergency department nurse. She is currently active in nursing leadership holding the position of Nurse Manager in the Emergency Department at Boston Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.  Elizabeth has a Master’s of Science in Biomedical Forensic Science from Boston University and a Master’s of Science in nursing from Boston College.  

She has received numerous clinical performance and academic excellence and achievement awards during her career, is a member of the American Association of Suicidology, the International Association of Forensic Nurses, Sigma Theta Tau, and the Emergency Nurses Association. 

 FBHA and FF Karnisky’s family wish Elizabeth the best of luck and much success in the completing her Doctorate of Nursing. 

To find out more about our scholarship program or to make a donation to support the program,  please see the Scholarship Program Page on our website at http://www.ffbha.org.

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Confidential Firefighter Suicide Report

In order for FBHA to be able to serve the needs of the fire service family, the more information we can gather on the firefighter suicide mechanism for pro-active training, the better. By gathering as much information as we can, we can provide a profile that helps identify at-risk firefighters before this tragedy strikes. This information has proven to be an invaluable tool for the police service. We request that anyone having information on a firefighter suicide please contact FBHA using the form below. Because we are mindful that some agencies prohibit the release of information by their Departments, and that some family members may not be aware that there is a way to make notifications, we have developed a "blind form" that assists in providing anonymity for the submitting party. This form has been graciously given to FBHA to use from Robert E. Douglas, Jr. of the National P.O.L.I.C.E. Suicide Foundation. Once you submit this confidential form, it is transmitted to Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance's email, with the sender information removed. Since we have no means to contact the submitter back because that information is blocked, we appreciate as much information as you can provide. FBHA then uses this information to keep its training pro-active and post-event, current. At a minimum, we require the agency's name, state, firefighter's sex, rank, years of service, date of death, how death occurred, and any stressors identified or suspected as being a catalyst. We would appreciate any additional information or details that can be provided. It is FBHA's policy not to release firefighter or department specific information. We respect the privacy of the families and agencies involved. It is not our intention to cause any undue pain to families or agencies. Additionally, we do not release this specific case information to the media. Sincerely, Jeff Dill Founder Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance
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