Seven Ontario First Responders Committed Suicide This Year

UPDATE
8 deaths so far in 2016: Canada’s first responder PTSD crisis
Global News
By Tania Kohut National Online Journalist
February 4, 2016

Toronto Police Const. Darius Garda’s body was pulled from Lake Ontario Thursday, the third death of an Ontario first responder over five days.

Toronto cop Darius Garda remembered as ‘genuine’, ‘empathetic’
Const. Garda was pulled from Lake Ontario on Thursday. He was 29.
Toronto Star
By: Alex Ballingall News
Published on Fri Feb 05 2016
One day after the body of Const. Darius Garda was pulled from the cold lake near Polson Pier, the young cop’s family was cloistered in grief in their Scarborough home.

“Me and my wife are just not able to handle this,” Garda’s father, Keras, said Friday when contacted by the Star. “It’s something we are not able to handle.”

The 29-year-old Toronto police officer was believed to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Friends and colleagues at 51 Division described him as a capable and good-natured crime analyst who was caring, sensitive and always quick to flash a smile.

“He’s the kind of person who, throughout his life — even though he was actually kind of a small person — he always stood up for people who were being treated unfairly,” one friend told the Star.
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Following Toronto officer's death, attention turns to better PTSD assessment 
City News
BY NEWS STAFF
POSTED FEB 5, 2016

Seven first responders in Ontario have committed suicide this year, according to a PTSD advocacy group, and there have been four more deaths across the country.

Tema Conter Memorial Trust is working to have post-traumatic stress disorder recognized as a work-related illness, while also providing support those suffering from PTSD and their families.

“It feels like almost every day we’re hearing about another first responder, another military member, another communications officer or corrections officer dying by suicide,” Erin Alvarez, the wife of a paramedic, says in a video released by Tema.

“PTSD has become a household name.”
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This one is from me. I created it years ago for National Guardsmen but it turned out the IFOC was using it for police officers and firefighters. While it is about what is going on here in the US, please, watch it and I hope that it helps you! You have PTSD for a reason and that reason IS YOUR JOB!

The folks you help everyday can end up with PTSD but you put your lives on the line everyday, so please understand YOU ARE NOT WEAK anymore than you are stuck suffering. Get help and heal so you can keep taking care of others. Canadians need you as much as we need our heroes!