Suicide-related callouts to fire and rescue services in England have tripled over the past decade, prompting Samaritans to call for mandatory training for firefighters who are increasingly dealing with traumatic incidents.
Rising Numbers of Callouts
New figures reveal that fire services in England attended 3,250 suicide-related callouts in the year ending September 2025, equivalent to 62 callouts per week. This marks a significant increase from 997 callouts in 2009-10, when records began.
In 2024, there were 5,717 registered suicides in England, 61 more than in 2023, with numbers rising since 2017.
Firefighters on the Frontline
Samaritans noted that firefighters are often among the first on the scene during a suicidal crisis, yet they receive no formal mandatory training on how to intervene. Elliot Colburn, public affairs and campaigns manager at the charity, stated: “People with this experience are telling us they don’t feel equipped with the training on dealing with someone in suicidal crisis. The data is pretty clear that once someone has undergone a form of suicide prevention training, their confidence in making an intervention and potentially saving a life skyrockets.”
The fire service is called to suicide-related incidents when specialist skills or equipment are needed, such as breathing apparatus or equipment for working at height or in water. Paramedics and police also attend these scenes.
Calls for Mandatory Training
Earlier this year, the government mandated protected time for trauma and suicide prevention training for new police recruits. Samaritans has written an open letter to Fire Minister Samantha Dixon, urging her to ensure firefighters receive “the same level of training and resource as their policing colleagues.”
A Firefighter’s Perspective
Mark, a firefighter in the West Midlands for nearly two decades, said suicide callouts have become increasingly common. At the start of his career, he attended them only rarely, but he has been to five incidents in the past year.
“We’re attending more and more suicides or suicide attempts, and it’s starting to take a bit of a toll,” Mark said. “Quite often we’re first on scene, and we have to intervene or at least attempt to. When you’re waiting for backup and other trained professionals, it can be quite stressful and there’s a lot of pressure on you to act.”
He noted that callouts for fires have decreased due to extensive prevention work over the past two decades, and he hopes similar efforts can reduce suicide attempts.
“Fires are actually on the decrease quite significantly, but special service calls like suicides are rising,” Mark added. “We’ve done a lot of prevention work on fire over the last 20 years, going into schools and delivering that message, which clearly shows that prevention is better than the cure, and that’s what we’re hoping to achieve here.”
“People see us as brave, burly individuals who deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis, but it does have an effect on you mentally. My hope is that when people see firefighters are being open and discussing this, it might break down some barriers and encourage people to seek help.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
