Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as we know it, can lead to depression, substance abuse and other problems but for most, even if some come forward for help, that diagnosis does not presently qualify them for compensation.
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| ... Illustrator Paul Combs brings the facts to life if his drawings. |
As a senior firefighter/paramedic, I had experienced alcoholism and prescription drug addiction, and now less than 2 years from retirement, I still struggle a bit with effects my career has had on my life, on my very being. I consider myself to be a survivor but one of my biggest fears, that more firefighters will parish by their own hands.
Without a doubt, there needs to be more clinicians trained in dealing with the firefighter mindset specifically to save these at risk men and woman. I know first hand from experiences that more progress can be made one-on-one and face-to-face in a short period of time than any forced rehab can ever accomplish.
It's time that departments and those 'higher powers to be' start investing in saving their men and women by treating them more as an investment as real people under this uniform... and stop thinking of them as a liability to be dealt with and pushed aside.
Here's to hoping that Manitoba will soon follow British Columbia and Alberta and bring about a positive change to our legislation... so that we may rescue our own before it is too late!
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