Firefighters want better support for dealing with the trauma of their job.

A report commissioned by Fire and Emergency has looked into the physiological illness and mental health issues among staff, identifying several areas for improvement.

Author of the report and senior firefighter Josh Darby told Mike Hosking fire crews are having to deal with not only fires and accidents but also traumatic medical fatalities.

"What I do know is it is something that is impacting our fire crews. We unfortunately had a number of suicides I know of throughout the Auckland area and down the country."

He says there are steps being taken to address these issues.

"I just hope that we continue on that way, it seems like we are. We continue to resource this issue, prioritise this issue, and continue to ensure we're looking after our firefighters."