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When Michele Taylor began her career as a paramedic nearly three decades ago, peers struggling with anxiety or sleepless nights after “bad calls” had nowhere to turn and no one to talk with and sometimes left the profession altogether.
“If you came home from a bad call and you couldn’t sleep and you felt withdrawn, you didn’t dare say anything to anyone,” said Taylor. “Now, we’re encouraging people to talk about it because talking about it makes a difference. It’s going to help and it’s going to help them finish their career.”
Taylor and Mechelle Murphy, a District Chief, are among a growing group of paramedics helping each other through emotional rough patches by listening, and when necessary, illuminating options for professional support and counselling. They are coordinators of the Essex-Windsor EMS Peer Support Team, an innovative program led by front-line paramedics that recognizes mental health challenges can be just as debilitating as wrenched backs and twisted knees.
“We’re not counsellors. We don’t have that training,” said Murphy, a 28-year veteran of the service. “We are navigators. We are great listeners. We help them navigate their feelings and help them get the care that they need.”
The program was launched in 2015 when about ten paramedics volunteered for a four-day training program led by psychologist Dr. Lori Gray, who still provides support to the team. The program got a boost in 2017 when the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund Grant donated $20,000. The team has grown to 21 trained volunteers and is looking to expand again.
Volunteers handle an average of 30 calls per month and have offered support and guidance to paramedics struggling in two other municipalities. The team also provides peer support to medical staff working in the emergency rooms of Windsor hospitals.
“We end up bringing our bad calls into their department and they can be affected as well,” said Murphy.
Paramedics deal with traumatic injuries and fatalities on a near-daily basis but some calls hit harder than others. Often, those calls involve a child, a suicide or a multi-vehicle pileup. Sometimes, the paramedics’ personal experiences play a role. A paramedic who has recently lost a loved one to cancer, for example, could be more affected by interactions with terminally ill patients.
“If you can relate it to something in your life, it hits home. We’re professionals. We’re out there. We do what we can to help people, but we have feelings too,” said Taylor. “Just because we’re the caregivers, doesn’t mean we don’t need care ourselves.”
A District Chief will alert the Peer Support Team when there has been an exceptional call and members of the team will confidentially reach out to the paramedics involved. Team members are “highly-trained listeners” looking for signs of emotional distress, such as anxiety, a loss of appetite, an inability to sleep or an inability to stop thinking about the incident.
Sometimes talking it through with a fellow paramedic is all it takes, but sometimes additional intervention is required and the team member helps with access to a psychologist or the service’s Employee Assistance Program.
“We listen and sometimes people tell their story and get it out and that’s all that’s needed,” said Taylor. “It may take a couple of conversations, but talking to a fellow paramedic who has been through something similar and who has had the same training as you can really make a difference.”
Taylor and Murphy praised Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter for embracing this mental health initiative when paramedics brought it forward and said he had an intimate understanding of the pressing need because he worked as a front-line paramedic himself.
“Paramedics are trained professionals who help others in their time of need. Peer support allows for professionally trained paramedics to help their colleagues in those times of mental wellness need,” said Krauter. “When I was approached about the Peer Support program, I had no questions except ‘when do we get this going and how are we getting there?’”
Paramedics with Essex-Windsor EMS wear red epaulettes every Friday in recognition of Wounded Warriors Canada, which supports mental health programs for active Canadian Armed forces members, veterans, first responders and their families suffering with operational stress injuries. They will be wearing them Wednesday in support of Bell Let’s Talk day, reiterating the message that mental health matters and even caregivers need care.
“We are all humans, we all have feelings. If we didn’t we wouldn’t be good paramedics,” said Taylor. “You can’t go through this career without it affecting you. It’s just not possible. The amount of stuff we see, it’s just not possible.”
You can support important mental health initiatives today in your social media feeds. Bell will donate 5 cents every time someone Tweets #BellLetsTalk or uses the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame. You can also support the campaign on Instagram and Snapchat. To learn more, visit the Bell Let’s Talk Website.
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