PTSD Presumption For Canadian First Responders?

Attitudes evolving toward PTSD, police chief says
Sudbury.com
Darren MacDonald
April 21, 2017

“The team provides immediate peer support and access to resources for members who have been involved in potentially traumatic events,” the report said. “The goal is to monitor members post event and off support services where identified.”

Attitudes toward post-traumatic stress disorder and policing have changed considerably since he began his career, Greater Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen said this week. (File photo).

Attitudes toward post-traumatic stress disorder and policing have changed considerably since he began his career, Greater Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen said this week.

"I've been in the profession a very long time,” Pedersen said. “There was a time when these types of things were not only unrecognized, but were hidden. There was a stigma associated with mental illness that suggested there was a weakness of character."

The chief was speaking after a police services board meeting this week, in which the force outlined its policies for helping front-line workers with PTSD.

Police had until April 23 to do so under the Supporting Ontario's First Responders Act, passed in the Ontario Legislature this month. It creates a presumption that PTSD diagnosed in first responders is work-related.
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