About 100 firefighters, police officers and paramedic hit the waves in the name of mental health this week as part of an annual charity event.
Guns, Hearts and Hoses was held at One Mile Beach on May 7 and 8, where emergency services and first responders compete in surfing across more than 10 categories.
The event was established in 1997 and has only missed two years since. Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters Jake Addison and Paul Oakes took over as organisers this year and Mr Addison said the event had a big focus on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) awareness.
"The idea is to bring the agencies together to have a relaxed couple of days," he said.
"PTSD is a pretty big issue at the moment, particularly within police.
"We run a two day surf comp and on the first night we have a barbecue where we run charity raffles and auctions.
"The funds that we get from that we set aside some for a mental health organisation."
Last year's event raised $10,000 for Fortem, which provides mental health support to first responders.
In turn, the event also acts as a break for the emergency service workers.
"They're getting away from their workplace to relax," Mr Addison said.
"That's the feedback we get, they just love the time away and it really relaxes them.
"But on top of that we've had people come in who specialise in mental health, and casually they will go around the crowd and chat to people.
"Mental health in emergency services, and especially men - they don't open up much. So these ladies that came along just go around and have a chat.
"Some of them are ex-emergency services and provide psychology support, some of them do pathway programs for people are put out of a job for mental health issues and they just get people talking.
"We've got veterans of the police force and fire brigade of 40 years experience and they don't go home and talk about critical incidents but they're happy to talk to this person. They don't know them, but they know on that level they can open up a bit.
"It creates awareness that it is okay to talk about your mental health or a particular incident you might be struggling with."
Mr Addison said the event was established by firefighters, but he and Mr Oakes are hoping to attract more police and paramedics in future years.
"We start organising this stuff from tomorrow for next year," Mr Addison said.
"We need to get the word out there because it's still old school in the emergency services where people don't like to talk. The younger generation that's coming through are happy to talk, but we want to engage with the older guys to open up a bit if they're struggling."
