It is essential to know how to help firefighters return to work after an injury and how to process it appropriately. Firefighting is one of the most hazardous jobs imaginable. In addition to the apparent danger of the blaze, professionals in this field face the risk of sprains, fractures, and lacerations as they navigate treacherous conditions. Unsurprisingly, injuries are common, but firefighter insurance can offer injured heroes the care they need to recover.
Helping Firefighters Return to Work After an Injury
If you’re wondering how to ease firefighters back into work after injury, consider the following steps that your clients can put into practice.
Leverage Firefighter Insurance Benefits
An effective firefighter insurance policy offers extensive coverage for medical expenses, mental healthcare, and property damage in the line of duty. These firefighter benefits can give your clients the freedom to rest and recover, so they are ready to return to work as soon as they have healed. You should ensure that your clients understand how their firefighter health insurance works and confirm that they are taking advantage of the benefits that it can provide.
Establish the End Goal of Recovery
The benefits of firefighter insurance typically include access to medical care, physical therapy, and other rehabilitative services. An injured firefighter may work with several providers concurrently to achieve the best recovery results. In this case, they should collaborate with their providers to establish an end goal for recovery. For example, it may be a fully healed bone fracture or a range of motion on par with their pre-injury abilities.
Provide Light Duty Assignments
While injured firefighters work toward their recovery goals, offering them light-duty assignments in the fire station is a good idea. Most departments have paperwork and data entry to tend to, and this is an excellent way for a recovering firefighter to transition back to work gradually. Providing a light duty assignment also allows the employee to resume work at their own pace so they can handle their responsibilities. Firefighter insurance will still cover health care costs while the insured works at a light-duty assignment.
Ensure That They Are Mentally Ready
When recovering from an injury, it’s easy for fire departments to focus exclusively on physical progress. Your clients may expect injured workers to rejoin their teammates in the field when a doctor gives the okay. It’s important to remember that injuries can be just as traumatic mentally as they are physically. The mental health resources offered through a firefighter insurance policy can help injured individuals fully recover.
Provide Effective Firefighter Insurance Policies
Insurers who offer firefighter insurance have the unique privilege of serving some of the most important heroes in the country. To do so effectively, you should develop policies and benefits that address a firefighter’s needs, including resources for mental health and recovery from injuries. These benefits will help injured firefighters heal and eventually return to the workforce.
About Provident Fire Plus
At Provident Fire Plus, we offer custom-tailored packages to best protect firefighters and volunteer firefighters. We understand the risks that emergency response teams are subjected to on a daily basis, and have worked to serve these dedicated professionals for over 87 years. For more information about our products and policies, we invite you to contact our experts today at (855) 201-8880.