{"id":51908,"date":"2025-07-09T17:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51908\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:08:10","slug":"focus-on-texas-first-responders-mental-health-grows-as-flood-death-toll-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51908\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Texas first responders’ mental health grows as flood death toll rises"},"content":{"rendered":"

INGRAM, Texas (AP) \u2014 Riding on horseback through brush and over numerous dead turkeys, Margo Mellon spent Tuesday scanning the flood-ravaged ground<\/a> of Texas\u2019 Hill Country<\/a> for dead bodies.<\/p>\n

As she and her rescue mates trudged through the muddy terrain, state officials announced that more than 160 people are still believed to be missing<\/a>. With countless miles swamped by the floods, nobody knows when the searches will end.<\/p>\n

The triumphs of finding people alive ended days ago, while the mission of recovering bodies that might include even more children is far from over. The grim undertaking has prompted questions about how first responders and rescue teams are able to mentally reckon with the work ahead.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Margo<\/p>\n

Margo Mellon, a volunteer with Texas EquuSearch, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Ingram, Texas (AP Photo\/Joshua A. Bickel)<\/p>\n

Margo Mellon, a volunteer with Texas EquuSearch, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Ingram, Texas (AP Photo\/Joshua A. Bickel)<\/p>\n

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Mellon, a 24-year-old volunteer with search and recovery organization Texas EquuSearch that is a working with local fire departments, said for now she feels emotionally detached as she focuses on the task. But she knows the experience will be difficult to process once she returns home to Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try not to think about it too much,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll just think about the fact that at least the families have closure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flash floods deluged homes<\/a>, campgrounds and an all-girls summer camp<\/a> over Fourth of July weekend. More than 100 people have been killed<\/a>, including 30 children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe process it the best we can,\u201d Lt. Colonel Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said Tuesday at a news conference after taking a deep breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making sure they have the support,\u201d Baker said of the search teams, adding that \u201cto see a child in that loss of life is extremely tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working on autopilot<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Upton<\/p>\n

Upton County sheriff deputies do search and recovery work on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, after the Fourth of July flood. (Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman via AP)<\/p>\n

Upton County sheriff deputies do search and recovery work on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, after the Fourth of July flood. (Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman via AP)<\/p>\n

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The discussion about first responders\u2019 mental health likely wouldn\u2019t have occurred a generation ago, experts say. And while first responders have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological health conditions, most are able to process the heavy realities of the job.<\/p>\n

Nick Culotta, who was a paramedic in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005<\/a>, said people in the profession are able to compartmentalize and work on autopilot. Despite the challenges of recovering bodies, he said the work is crucial.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not the goal that you are hoping for,\u201d he said. \u201cBut just being able to give someone closure that their loved one was found can give us a sense of accomplishment. There are still people unaccounted for from Katrina.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mental health challenges may follow, he said, which is why learning how to rest and get support is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will still continue to call for police. People will still get sick. Things will still catch fire,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s really important is understanding your limitations. And having resources available to use, whether it be an anonymous help line or a sit-down with a mental health counselor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The importance of a strong support system<\/p>\n

The stresses of the job affect everyone differently, said Robin Jacobowitz, interim director at the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz.<\/p>\n

A lot of it depends on what the first responder experienced previously, both on the job and off, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these responders who are working in Texas, it\u2019s probably not their first incident,\u201d said Jacobowitz, who co-authored a report on the mental health needs of New York\u2019s first responders. \u201cSo what they\u2019re dealing with now is probably layered on top of what they have dealt with in the past. And those things add up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stress from the job can show up through sleeplessness, flashbacks or introversion, Jacobowitz said, as well as feelings of \u201cCould I have done more? Did I do enough?\u201d<\/p>\n

Most will lean on friends and family as well as clergy or spiritual advisers. But because many don\u2019t want to burden them with what they\u2019ve seen, they also lean on each other and mental health professionals.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest predictors of recovering from a traumatic event is the degree of social support a person has.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every traumatic incident turns into full-blown PTSD,\u201d Jacobowitz said. \u201cYou may struggle with PTSD-like symptoms and then be able to work through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A growing emphasis on first responders\u2019 mental health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Rescue<\/p>\n

Rescue workers are seen on land and on a boat as they search for missing people near Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n

Rescue workers are seen on land and on a boat as they search for missing people near Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a marked shift toward acknowledging the mental health challenges of the job, said Ian Stanley, a University of Colorado emergency medicine professor.<\/p>\n

Much of the change has occurred in the last decade, pushed along by the growing focus on PTSD among veterans coupled with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic on first responders, Stanley said.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s still a long way to go because the issue \u201chasn\u2019t been talked about for so long,\u201d he said. Challenges include serving first responders who work for volunteer organizations<\/a> or in rural areas where there are fewer mental health resources.<\/p>\n

The issue also hasn\u2019t been studied as extensively as it has among veterans and service members.<\/p>\n

Stanley stressed that most first responders are \u201cresilient to these challenges and live happy, healthy, productive, resilient lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he noted that many of those recovering flood victims in Texas are in small communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might be recovering bodies of people they know or their neighbors,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s really challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INGRAM, Texas (AP) \u2014 Riding on horseback through brush and over numerous dead turkeys, Margo Mellon spent Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[1736,38843,57,210,38846,517,50,38845,28069,38844,358,38094,5028,61,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-51908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-anxiety","10":"tag-ben-baker","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-margo-mellon","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-nick-culotta","17":"tag-post-traumatic-stress-disorder","18":"tag-robin-jacobowitz","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-texas-hill-country-floods","21":"tag-tx-state-wire","22":"tag-u-s-news","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}