Moose Jaw EMS paramedic appointed to National Advisory Board
Moose Jaw EMS’ Advance Care Paramedic Michael Slater is one of seven (7) persons in Canada, who has been appointed to a National Advisory Board to study the inherent psychological risk factors involved in the paramedics’ occupational field.
Slater, who has been a paramedic for 25 years, was appointed to the board recently where he will contribute to an authored study. “About a month ago, I was made aware of it through our deputy chief that Paramedics Canada were looking for people to serve on this board. With the support of my chief and deputy chief, I applied and was 1 of 7 people selected to serve on the advisory board,” Slater explained. “Basically, the Canadian Safety Association in conjunction with the Mental Health Commission of Canada as well as with the Paramedics Association of Canada are commissioning this survey to study the inherent psychological risk factors involved with the paramedics’ occupational field. This survey/paper is being commissioned and authored and we (the seven people) will play an advisory role to assist the doctors who are writing the paper in the paramedic occupational field.”
He says he is happy to be part of this board because this area of study is a very passionate one for him. He has studied aspects of mental health and explained that this profession is one that can cause intense mental stress. As a result, Slater says it is imperative to provide mental health support in the field and understand the stress levels involved. “I’ve been in the paramedic industry for 25 years and in this industry, we deal with high levels of stress and critical incidents stress. There’s a lot of proactive approach towards dealing with stress levels and recognizing that the stress levels that paramedics are under in the performance of their duties. In this field, we deal with extensive levels of stress on a daily basis,” he said. “A perfect example of that is the recent tragedy affecting Humboldt and what the responders had to deal with and see. So, what this paper will do is that it will study the inherent psychological risk factors in the paramedic profession itself and not just individuals. This will lead towards development of standards to ensure mental health and mental wellness in the profession.”
He says the paramedics will work on the National Advisory Board for about six months, which involves travelling to Toronto for meetings. He emphasized the importance of this study and actions they will stimulate as a result. “This study will be of great importance for our profession. When I just started, there was no emotional or mental health support and there was very little understanding of the effect that the stress of our job has on us in the field. We’ve come a long way in understanding the stress levels, professionals in our fields have and at EMS we have the full support of our management personnel, an established wellness team and ongoing support for all employees, not just on a reactive perspective but a proactive one. When we have new persons coming into the field, we help them develop coping mechanisms and resiliency and help them to understand that the stress incidents are inevitable. There used to be a lot of stigma surrounding mental health and going forward, we want to remove that.”