As the mental and physical demands on first responders become clearer, the efforts of one Western researcher might just be a life-saver for those so often celebrated for saving the lives of others.
Physical Therapy professor Joy MacDermid is exploring the effectiveness of a mental-health and resiliency program called Resilient Minds on the well-being of firefighters in both Vancouver and Prince Edward Island. The study is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
And the work could not come soon enough.
In 2016, the Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being estimated 70,000 Canadian firefighters, police officers and paramedics have suffered from mental-health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Inspired by those findings, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Vancouver Fire Department developed Resilient Minds to equip the first responders with the tools necessary to combat these stresses. Firefighters in PEI more recently began using on the program; now several hundred people on both coasts have trained on it.
