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Ocala firefighter Jeff Werthmuller said his 鈥渄ay of reckoning鈥� came when he responded to a structure fire without his gear 鈥� and most of his clothes.

A captain in the department, he鈥檇 been passed out on his shift after an off-duty binge of 鈥渄rinking and drugging鈥� when the call came in. He staggered to a truck, the wrong one at first.

鈥淒ude, you got no clothes on,鈥� another firefighter told him, but Werthmuller said he didn鈥檛 respond.

After the call, where his colleagues found only some smoke, a chief came to him: 鈥淎re you messed up? Are you drunk from last night?鈥�

Those questions led to the first step in Werthmuller鈥檚 recovery from alcohol and cocaine addiction, a story he told during the 2012 Florida Partners in Crisis annual conference and again at the 2013 Florida Sheriff鈥檚 Association conference.

Werthmuller is an alumnus of the LEO program at 网红黑料 Florida Recovery Center, a program designed for law enforcement officers and first responders with addiction disorders.

鈥淢y life was slowly falling apart without me knowing it,鈥� he said, often clasping his hands chest high and with an occasional catch in his voice.

Rick Wagner, law enforcement liaison with FRC, said public safety providers like Werthmuller are a challenge because they must be strong in their jobs and don鈥檛 want to admit weakness.

Even others question, he said, 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 they deal with their own problems?鈥�

Wagner said he works to keep departments informed about police officers鈥� or firefighters鈥� treatment progress and facilitate people returning to full duty, not 鈥渄esk鈥� or 鈥渟oft鈥� duty, which might carry more stigma.

Werthmuller is back on the job after nine months, demoted from captain. He admits the only reason he became a firefighter was because they work one day and have two days off 鈥� which suited his life as 鈥減arty guy.鈥�

In a 12-step program after in-patient treatment and therapy, he believes telling his story is important to his success. His father, in fact, heard him tell it for the first time as part of the audience of the 1.5-hour session.

Werthmuller told of drinking for the first time as a sixth-grader, of partying more and more, adding cocaine in college 鈥� living the life of a popular athlete. But, he said, he suffered from dyslexia and couldn鈥檛 read.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to deal with anybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat I liked to do was drink.鈥�

Werthmuller also talked about half-hearted attempts at getting help before the fateful fire call, but said he never before admitting to using drugs.

He said he鈥檚 early in his recovery and used an analogy about construction, where he has yet to hammer in a 2-by-4.

鈥淚f I get a strong foundation, I鈥檓 going to build a really big house,鈥� he said, smiling.

Source: Belinda Stewart, Florida Partners in Crisis