Jason Callihan

Firefighter / Peer Support

Jason has been with the Hamilton Fire Department in southern Ohio for 20 years. He has been a peer support since 2017. The idea of having a peer group within the OAPFF and their Local really struck a cord with him. As Jason looked back on his career, he realized that the fire service actually had an unofficial peer group long before they gave it a name. The bond they share causes them to rally around each other when things don’t go as planned.

In recent situations in his own personal life, the members of Local 20 gave him support that no one else could give. Being part of the peer team, gives Jason an opportunity to give back to them and others what has been given to him. Jason told the OAPFF, “As firefighters, we are exceptional at taking care of others, and now it is time we take care of ourselves.”

In an interview with Cincinnati WCPO in January of 2019, Jason shares, "People in public service professions tend to be “fixers,” Hamilton Fire Department Lt. Jason Callihan said Monday night. Unsolvable problems stick in their gears."

For Callihan, that problem was the Dec. 28, 2015 death of colleague Patrick Wolterman.

He rode in the procession carrying Wolterman’s remains three days later, looking out over crowds who had come to show their support for the fire department. He spent over a year walking by the empty gray locker.

The true shock of it still wouldn’t hit until 2017, when he and others at the station realized how tightly they were gripping their pain.

“I shoved it all down,” he said. “When we got out on runs, we see things. We know how to process that. … When it comes to somebody you know, there’s no disconnect from that.”

There were few tools for coping with it in a workplace full of people whose priorities revolved around a shared desire to find solutions and move on to the next run. Callahan knew real recovery couldn’t happen without outside help.

It came from Community First, a health organization that sent a free counselor to provide mental health counseling and training to members of the department. The counselor remained with them through the trial that would eventually convict two men of arson and murder in connection to the fire in which Wolterman died.

Her help allowed Callihan to beginning process the loss, finally. It also made him realize how deep he and others had buried their grief — and how sorely an excavation was needed for them to grow beyond it.

“I don’t believe in closure when you lose someone you care about, but you certainly learn about post-traumatic growth,” he said. “For me, personally, I feel like I’m a better human being, a better person, firefighter, husband now than I was a year and a half ago.”

For more on that interview visit:
https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/hamilton/after-firefighters-death-hamilton-fire-realized-it-didnt-know-how-to-talk-about-mental-health

Jason describes himself as loving protective and positive and lives by the mantra of "If no one else wants to go, send me." When Jason isn't on the job as a career firefighter or supporting his peers, he enjoys his time with his wife, Amy of 21 years and their 3 beautiful children. He appreciates a good game of golf and being of service. Jason is also an ordained minister in his community.