(submitted photo/saskfirstrespondersmentalhealth.ca)

By Ronald Quaroni

Mental Health

New website launches to help Sask. first responders

Jul 26, 2019 | 10:27 AM

Mental health continues to be a troubling issue for the province’s first responders.

A brand new website was launched Wednesday, to make available resources to first responders, their families and employers that can help with mental health issues.

“The rash of suicides in all first responder organizations has been very prevalent in the last five years. That’s typically the leading cause of death,” P.A. President of the Firefighters Association and Co-Chair of the Sask. First Responders Mental Health Committee Jeff Reeder said. “It’s an alarming statistic and it’s something we’re aiming to change.”

“Without a doubt, this is an amazing resource for all of us. Any first responder can benefit from this.”_{Const. Wanda McKenzie}

Reeder explained his own struggles with mental health urged him to take action and work with groups like the Workers Compensation Board to get the ball rolling on the initiative.

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“I felt like I was the only person to ever experience this and not knowing where to go, what resources to access it was a very difficult process,” Reeder told paNOW. “There was definitely a need to streamline that approach and make it easier for other people to access was one of my goals.”

He encourages first responders to take the self-assessment test on the website, and if they do show signs of physical or mental concerns to reach out for help.

“Thinking things will get better with time… they truly don’t. Being able to recognize when changes happen, that is very critical,” Reeder said. “Accessing resources at that time and not just pushing (issues) aside and
to keep working, then you turn into the working wounded.”

“We just want to stress to people, do the self-evaluations, know where you’re at and reach out to somebody. Pick out a number of someone you feel comfortable talking to and make that connection,” Reeder encouraged.

Const. Wanda Mckenzie, is based out of the P.A. RCMP detachment. She is a committee member alongside Reeder and worked on initiative’s connected to helping first responders with PTSD.

She explained the brand new web resource is extremely important.

“Without a doubt, this is an amazing resource for all of us. Any first responder can benefit from this,” Mckenzie said.

The name ‘first responder’ indicates that these men and women are often first on scene to help. Sometimes those situations can leave long-lasting negative impacts.

“Every first responder, we have this A-type personality, we respond to calls,” Mckenzie told paNOW. “We could respond to the first call that could affect us, the death of a child, an accident scene, whatever the case maybe. Some may be affected by the first call, others may be affected by the second or third, or it could affect us later on down the road.”

McKenzie said the amount of stigma surrounding PTSD or Operational Stress Disorder has been a hinderance to people getting help, but it’s slowly getting better.

Buckland Fire Department Fire Chief, Garry Schrader said any added tools for first responders in the province is a good thing.

“I think it’s a great tool they can use,” Schrader said. “Something they can use to talk to someone after they’ve gone through a tough situation. I think it’s a great tool.”

“I hope first responders use the website or whatever tools they have to deal with [mental health] situations they have,” Schrader explained.

Anyone looking to access this resource can head to saskfirstrespondersmentalhealth.ca.

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Ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni