The weight of the job: what the research says about first responder trauma in Canada

The short answerIn the largest Canadian survey of its kind, 44.5% of public safety personnel screened positive for symptoms of at least one mental disorder. For the general population, the comparable figure is about 10%. Paramedics and correctional workers screened positive for PTSD most often.

Every firefighter, police officer, paramedic and dispatcher carries a running file of calls they'd rather forget. Most people never see that file. For a long time, Canada didn't really measure it either.

The survey that changed the conversation

Researchers led by Dr. Nicholas Carleton at the University of Regina ran a national survey asking Canadian public safety personnel how they were really doing. A total of 5,813 people answered: municipal and provincial police, RCMP members, firefighters, paramedics, correctional workers, and call centre operators and dispatchers.

The survey screened for post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder and problem drinking. The results were published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in 2018.

Overall, 44.5% screened positive for symptoms consistent with one or more mental disorders. Estimates of diagnosed mental disorders in the general population sit near 10%.

What the numbers look like by profession

Municipal and provincial police and firefighters were less likely to screen positive than the other groups. Their numbers were still well above what you'd expect in the general public.

One caution: these are screening results, not diagnoses. A positive screen means someone's symptoms are severe enough to warrant a proper assessment. It's a strong signal, not a medical chart.

After the big ones

Some calls are bigger than others. When wildfire tore through Fort McMurray in 2016, firefighters from across the country were deployed. Researchers later carried out structured clinical interviews with 193 of them and estimated that 11.9% of the deployed firefighters had PTSD. That's from a single event, on top of everything else a career brings.

Why it builds up

Most responders don't break from one call. It's the accumulation: years of exposure to death, injury and danger, layered on shift work, broken sleep and a culture that has long rewarded people for keeping quiet. Many in the field now use the term post-traumatic stress injury, because it frames the damage as an injury from the work rather than a personal failing.

Why standard treatment isn't always enough

Treatments like cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy and EMDR help a lot of people, and they should always be part of the conversation. But many responders don't get enough relief, or stop before the treatment is finished. Medications can take the edge off without touching the root of it.

Our co-founder Jeremy Hudec spent years in that system after his PTSD diagnosis in 2010. He did every therapy asked of him. It wasn't enough. That gap, between the people standard care helps and the people it doesn't, is the reason Project Life Spark exists.

What this means

If nearly half of the people who answer our 911 calls are carrying symptoms of a mental disorder, this isn't a niche problem. It's a public safety problem. They show up for the rest of us. The least we can do is make sure there's a real path back when they need one.

If you're struggling right now, please don't wait. Call or text 9-8-8 any time to reach the Suicide Crisis Helpline.