Chief Jose "Pep" Prado uses his experience and leadership to help firefighters in need
Jolting 3 a.m. wake-up calls, the need to act fast, and constantly being mentally prepared are commonplace for firefighters. Middle-of-the-night alarms come with the territory. For Fire Rescue's Health and Safety Chief Jose "Pep" Prado, those calls take a different tone now. Rather than jumping out of bed and into a fire truck, Prado responds to middle-of-the-night calls from fellow firefighters. Their struggle? Mental health. And Prado's line is always open.
Chief Prado leads a team of firefighters and staff who, like him, tackle this critical need. Because sometimes, a voice on the other end of the line is what someone needs the most.
Fighting fires, responding to emergencies, and serving Hillsborough County residents have been at the forefront of Prado's life for over 30 years. During this time, he has witnessed the landscape of Hillsborough County and Fire Rescue change. Population growth has boomed, development has soared, and the number and intensity of emergency calls have escalated. Prado says the severity of what first responders witness is far worse now than when he began his career.
Nationally and across industries, rates of depression, anxiety, divorce, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide are increasing rapidly. Fire Rescue is not immune. So, in 2021 Hillsborough County acted and created a new role for Prado, one that had not existed, but for which he was destined.
Retirement called Prado's name in 2021, and he had plans of spending more time traveling with family. But fate had other ideas. Just a short nine months after Prado retired, he received a call to come back to work - this time, as the Health and Safety Chief for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
Prado was not immune to mental bumps in the road either. Over the years, his profession took a toll, but in 2018 he made his mental health a priority. He packed his bags, left his family and his crew for one month, and enrolled in the IAFF Center of Excellence.
Located in Maryland, the IAFF Center of Excellence is a rehab center designed specifically for the International Association of Firefighters. Prado was the first firefighter in Hillsborough County to attend and graduate from the program.
Prado uses his personal experience daily to enhance the lives of first responders. "Helping people is the goal now, and my life has changed completely," Prado says.
With Prado at the helm, and with the full support of Hillsborough County's Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones, County firefighters have more resources than ever before.
Chief Prado directed the development of internal support programs such as the Peer Support Program and the Critical Incidents Stress Management Team and has forged community health care partnerships for short- and long-term mental health treatment.
His plans don't stop there. Prado is determined to have the necessary programs in place to help first responders move through their situations and make it out on the other side.
"We are pushing, pushing to break the stigma," says Prado. "Everybody is worth saving, everyone has something to live for."
*Firefighters are trained to look for signs of a mental health crisis which might include extreme anger, decrease in quality of work, missing work or arriving late, constant state of stress, or being over emotional.
Original source can be found here.
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