qathet Regional District (qRD) board will consider applying for funds to help support the mental health of volunteer firefighters from four fire departments in the electoral areas.
At the October 4 finance committee meeting, the committee recommended the regional board endorse an application to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for the volunteer and composite fire departments equipment and training funding stream for the Northside Volunteer Fire Department, Savary Island Volunteer Fire Department, Malaspina Volunteer Fire Department and Lasqueti Island Volunteer Fire Department.
City of Powell River Director Cindy Elliott said the initiative was very positive and she liked that the regional district was spending time on the mental health of firefighters. She asked if the regional district had run such a program for firefighters before.
qRD occupational health and safety coordinator Melanie Taylor said the regional district had not run the proposed program for firefighters before. She said this is another tool in the toolbox.
She said the resilient minds training that was being proposed is something that a few firefighters have taken. She said that part of the proposal was a resilient minds train-the-trainer workshop that would prepare and certify in-house firefighters to become peer instructors to deliver the course on an ongoing basis.
“Staff is looking at a suite of mental health and resiliency with different types of mental and physical training that would bolster mental health and wellness to our departments,” said Taylor. “That would be something that is brand new.”
Electoral Area E director and finance committee chair Andrew Fall said he is really appreciative to see the regional district proposing to apply to this funding stream for mental health.
“There are other things we could be applying for under this funding but mental health for department members is a really huge issue,” said Fall. “It relates to not just an ethical thing to do for recruitment and retention. Firefighters see things that are difficult to see and do things that are difficult to do. This is sending a strong signal that we are putting in efforts to take care of our department members.
“This is timely and important.”
According to a staff report, staff propose to submit the grant application in support of firefighter and first-responder mental and physical health and wellness training.
The report stated the resilient minds program is an evidence-informed, peer-to-peer skill-building program designed by and for career and volunteer firefighters across Canada.
“Resilient minds engages and informs firefighters in four crucial areas relevant to their work: trauma; psychological distress; trauma-informed response; exploring resilience, personal wellbeing, reconnection and post-traumatic growth,” the report stated.
The report stated that in the last three years, qRD has taken steps to support first responders’ mental health. Some initiatives include providing critical incident stress management (CISM) peer support training, developing a CISM peer support program, providing fire department members with a robust member and family assistance program, and providing proactive occupational stress injury check-ins with clinical case managers to assess health and wellness and prevent mental health injuries.
The committee unanimously recommended applying for the UBCM funding program.
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