First responder suicide rates outnumbering line-of-duty deaths

By Matt Young, WV Press Association

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – “I need to drive this home – Suicide rates aren’t just outnumbering line-of-duty deaths – they’re doing so even with suicides being under-reported by as much as 60%.”

That’s what Kari Mika-Lude told the Joint Committee on Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services in Huntington on Sunday, during the first day of the State Legislature’s May Interim Session. 

Mika-Lude…