"We do get the option to go to counselling but getting over the dramatic scene, what you did at the time ... it can be hard."
Mr Beech said the reality of working in emergency services in a small community like Maketu meant he or his crew always knew the victims, which made it especially hard although it did help reinforce the support they offered each other.
"In this township there would be at least one or two people [on the brigade] that knows the person. It's very small," he said.
"When it comes down to the grief side of it, we get together after to debrief, defuse and just wind it down for everyone."
In Whangamata, St John area chaplain Robbie Harwood began his career in 1988 driving ambulances and one call out has never left him.
"A good friend of mine back in the early 90s committed suicide. He was a builder, loved surfing and was only 23. One night his mum phoned me from Hamilton and said she was worried about him, so I drove to his house and found him dead under the house.
"As an ambulance driver I was used to seeing and dealing with dead people, but it was just the actual horror, that initial fright. It filled me with fear. I'm a grown man but I had trouble going to bed without the lights on.
"I went to fix a leak under a house in Waihi and I couldn't go under it. It had put this fear, this horror into me. I kind of beat myself up for a while because he was a good friend of mine and here he's killed himself. Why didn't I see a sign? Why didn't I do something?
"I would say in the last 20 years that there have been more suicides in Whangamata than there have been road deaths. I could say that confidently."
Suicides in NZ
579 to June 2016
14,992 attempted suicide calls
Where to get help:
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• Kidsline: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
• Whatsup: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
• Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7)
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• Samaritans 0800 726 666
• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.