While the city does physical evaluations of our firefighters, you wonder if there is any ‘mental’ evaluations? (Item #1)
I have been told “Fitness assessments” listed are part of the firefighter’s labor agreement where they are required to annually participate in a non-punitive assessment of their fitness. It includes tests like body fat measuring, BMI, push-ups, and cardiovascular fitness, etc. This was in place before the annual incumbent physical agility test (IPAT) was being used, so it seems unneeded (the IPAT annually shows the employee’s ability to perform essential job tasks) except it mentions behavioral health and then mental health on the program link, which IPAT doesn’t cover.
An overview of the program can be found here:
http://www.iaff.org/hs/Well/index.htm
There’s only been one scientific study done nationally (by Chicago Fire) and their results showed that the suicide rates for firefighters are 5x the national average.