Inside EMS Podcast: Peer Support for PTSD and Depression
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Paramedic Greg Turner of Edmonton took his life on-duty on January 26. Last weekend, paramedic Debbie Crawford of Denver Health Paramedics took her life as well, mere hours after working a fatal train vs pedestrian accident. Debbie co-founded and chaired a committee aimed at helping paramedics deal with PTSD and depression, yet for her, even those resources were not enough.
Co-host Chris Cebollero and I discuss what EMS lost this past weekend, and who we’re losing every day, because of mental health issues. Debbie and Greg are only the ones we know about. There are more, gone unnoticed because they didn’t kill themselves on-duty, or no one mentioned their occupation in their obituary.
The resources our employers have for us are not enough.
Some agencies are good, and try hard. Others are pathetic, and deserve to be publicly shamed for their lack of regard for their employees’ welfare.
But even the best resources are not enough. We have to step up to the plate for each other. WE – the ambulance crews – have to do something.
Here’s two things you can do directly that will help:
- De-stigmatize mental illness. The broken people we see are broken because of lack of resources and other societal factors, not because anything is intrinsically flawed in their makeup. Every time we make callous remarks in private about people with “chronic microdeckia” or a “tenuous cheese/cracker interface” – and I’ve been guilty of this myself – we send the unspoken message that mental illness is something to be ashamed of. And sometimes, the person receiving that message is sitting eighteen inches away in the other ambulance seat, and thus is afraid to speak up. Partners look out for each other. Partner’s have each other’s backs. Depression should never be allowed to whisper dark thoughts in your partner’s ear without your voice boldly stating in the other one, “That’s bullshit.”
- Volunteer to be a mental health peer counselor for your agency. If your agency doesn’t have such a program, approach management to get one started. The Code Green Campaign can help you find the right resources and training. Every movement starts small, and grows from there. Look out for yourself and your partner first. Together, we can crowd-source peer support and mental health awareness.
Go listen to the podcast, and give us your thoughts.
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