Urgences-Santé first responders call for more mental health services

First responders who work at Urgences-Santé in Montreal say they need more mental health resources to deal with issues like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted suicide.

Daniel Garvin, a former first responder, is one of the Montrealers who is sounding the alarm.

Of all the troubling 911 calls that Garvin answered in his 30-year career, he can still pinpoint the one that triggered his PTSD in the summer of 2012. 

It's the darkest, deepest place I've ever been in my life.- Daniel Garvin, former Urgences-Santé first responder

"My partner and I had responded to a call for an accidental death involving a baby," he said. 

"The baby had gotten between the bars of the crib and accidentally hung itself. It happened overnight, so by the time there was recognition by [the baby's grandparents] and by the time that we arrived, it was far too late."

Disturbing call opened floodgates

Garvin was in such daze that he can't remember what happened after he and his partner drove the baby's grandparents to the hospital to be treated for shock.

When he came to, he was sitting on the ambulance's bumper, "weeping like a child."

"It's almost like we have this place in the back of our brain where we place things that we don't want to deal with at that time," he said. 

"Most people in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) think, 'I can deal with this, this is my job, this is what I'm supposed to do.' But there comes a time when that space is completely taken up, and there's no room left."

Failed by the system

Following a second breakdown, Garvin was placed on desk duty and went through two rounds of therapy provided by Urgences-Santé's employee program.

But Garvin says employees only get eight to 10 sessions per round, with little in the way of follow-up.

To make things worse, Garvin says the therapists provided by Urgences-Santé didn't understand his PTSD, leaving him hopeless. His mental state worsening, Garvin eventually found himself standing on the edge of an overpass, ready to take his own life.

"It's the darkest, deepest place I've ever been in my life because there is no rationality. So the only answer is, 'I've got to get out,'" said Garvin.

A Canada-wide problem

With the support of a supervisor, Garvin pushed through and found a therapist outside of the Urgences-Santé employee program.

• Growing PTSD crisis among Canada's first responders

But Garvin says he knows of at least three paramedics who have taken their own lives in the past three to four years. 

There are so many people who are experiencing things like divorce, trouble at home, alcoholism.- Daniel Garvin, former Urgences-Santé first responder

Advocates for better mental health services for first responders say it is a country-wide problem.

According to one such organization, the Tema Conter Memorial Trust, 40 first responders committed suicide in Canada last year alone.

"It's huge. There are so many people who are experiencing things like divorce, trouble at home, alcoholism," he said.

Urgences-Santé taking steps

Urgences-Santé told CBC Montreal that it is taking steps to hire a psychologist who will head up a pairs program, in which first responders offer one another mental health support.

But Garvin says employees still need more therapy sessions and better follow-up treatments.

"Many things have been tried and have failed. And in the meantime, people are suffering. People have died, in the meantime," he said.

The employee group APPEX (Alliance des paramédics professionnels pour l'excellence), as well as the union for Urgences-Santé first responders, have both been in talks with Urgences-Santé on improving mental health resources for employees.

Yvon Bonesso, vice-president of the union that represents Urgences-Santé workers, says that the union is doing what it can to advocate for increased mental health services for employees, but has yet to come to an agreement with Urgences-Santé.

• Are Montrealers waiting too long for ambulances?