Vaughan Fire and Rescue Services signs on to Wounded Warriors Canada service to better treat first-responders’ mental health

Vaughan Fire and Rescue Services joins other firefighters across GTA with partnership to help treat first-responders with PTSD

Yorkregion.com
June 26, 2023
Brian Capitao

The work of first responders is a dangerous feat.

Firefighters and other first responders often risk life and limb to protect civilians from harm.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes take a toll in the form of trauma. So, on Thursday, June 15., the Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service and Vaughan Professional Fire Fighters Association signed a deal with Wounded Warriors Canada, a national service provider that offers mental health support to first responders.

“For the firefighters of Vaughan and all of our personnel, whether they're a call taker, a dispatcher, a mechanic, or a prevention officer, this means they have access to an extra layer of mental health support and resiliency supports for their overall mental health,” said Andrew Zvanitajs, fire chief for Vaughan Fire and Rescue Services.

The service was brought to the attention of Zvanitajs by a firefighter named Jennifer Heslin, who is part of the peer-support team.

“A firefighter by the name of Jennifer Heslin brought in January to me the partnership agreement that you saw signed today and council endorsed that once I briefed them on the benefits of that,” said Zvanitajs.

Wounded Warriors is a free service that provides trauma-informed workplace training for first responders. Working in collaboration with first-response employers, Wounded Warriors provides treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other afflictions.

“I think with education and bringing this to our members, it's only something that will grow and become the norm. So something that our members will automatically turn to or know to turn to when it need,” said Andrew Anthony, president of the Vaughan Professional Firefighters Association.

Awareness of the program within these organizations is key to getting members to participate, argues Scott Maxwell, executive director for Wounded Warriors Canada.

“Well, there's only one way to do it. We've got to formalize a working relationship with the employer and the association. So that's (why) this formalization of this relationship means a ton because we don't have access to the members of Vaughan Fire Rescue Service. We don't talk to them on a daily basis. We're not peer support. We don't know who might need help. These people that work together all the time do,” said Maxwell.

Wounded Warriors Canada offers psychoeducation programs like Before Operational Stress (BOS) and Couples Overcoming Post-Traumatic Stress Everyday (COPE).

“Resiliency for us, where BOS lives in our programming spectrum, is ... empowering people to take charge of their mental health, having tools and resources and skills to help manage post-trauma responses and these kinds of things,” said Maxwell.

The program is funded half through private sponsorship and half through federal government grants, insurance providers and employers.

“We have government grants. Federally. We partner with employers and government agencies that set aside funds to refer people to our services and insurance providers, and then the other half, at least or more of where our funding comes from to pay for all the work is from our charitable foundation,” said Maxwell.

Maxwell believes first response employers need to have “skin in the game.” Just as one might train their body for duty, they need to sharpen their mind.

“There's a role for the employer of these members to play when it comes to ensuring that psychological (health) when it comes to training budgets, that psychological health training is at the forefront just as much as the extent is as any sort of operational or physical training,” said Maxwell.