Edmonton Journal

Paramedics out to show ‘No One Walks Alone’

24-hour event held to raise awareness of first responder PTSD and job stress

- DUSTIN COOK duscook@postmedia.com Twitter.com/dustin_cook3

“When you can’t walk, we will carry you, help you and look after you.”

Dale Bayliss, an Alberta paramedic for more than 30 years, said this sentiment rings true for all emergency medical services (EMS) members who are on the front lines every day to take care of the injured and suffering.

But after seeing many paramedics struggle with compassion fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorder because of the difficult situations they face, Bayliss decided to bring the same mentality to his No One Walks Alone initiative — a tough 24-hour walk to show support for emergency services workers.

Bayliss founded the walk, now heading into its fourth year, as a way to start a conversati­on and raise awareness for the mental health of first responders after seeing the severity of the issue across the country.

In 2017, Bayliss said there were 56 first responder suicides in Canada. About 25 per cent of paramedics deal with PTSD, according to the Tema Conter Memorial Trust.

“Sometimes, so many things are against us and people have to know on a bad day that it is a bad day,” Bayliss said. “But there’s always tomorrow and tomorrow ’s the one that’s going to make a difference. You have to live for tomorrow, too.”

This year’s event starts Saturday evening at Hasting Lake Gardens in Sherwood Park, where walkers will set off on an 85-km trek along Highway 14 to Viking, where it will wrap with a barbecue Sunday night.

“It’s amazing how the bonds grow as you’re walking down the highway,” said Bayliss, noting that responders share stories of past experience­s they can all relate to and that prove that no responder is alone.

Along with healing, the walk raises funds for the Alberta Paramedic Associatio­n’s HELP Fund. The Helping Every Local Paramedic Fund proceeds go toward health and wellness initiative­s for practition­ers in need.

The funds can go toward counsellin­g, medical care and to make life a little easier for a practition­er and family when dealing with a tragedy, associatio­n executive director Marc Moebis said.

Raising awareness and proceeds for the HELP fund is important, Moebis said, to show that EMS practition­ers do need support of their own, even though they ’re also the ones providing it.

“It raises awareness to the fact that paramedics are humans and paramedics tend to be the ones to heal people,” said Moebis, who is a paramedic with Prairie EMS. “When people call for help, we’re the ones who show up and we do face a lot of barriers when we want to call for help.”

An EMS practition­er in Fort Saskatchew­an for 10 years, Heather Burton said there needs to be a shift in how first responders are viewed to provide them with the help and support they need.

“We see things that most people wouldn’t dream of seeing,” Burton said. “I see practition­ers that would love the avenue to be a bit more open about what we see and what we do, but it’s a very closed environmen­t. We’re looked at in the public as the ones who come in to fix everything.”

Since being created, the HELP fund has raised $48,000 to assist paramedics.

Donations to the fund can be made at albertapar­amdecis.ca

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