THEVOICE |

6

=By BECCA CLARKSON,
PERRIN GRAUER AND NICK
VALKA

dvocates for trauma-

tized first responders in

British Columbia say

that WorkSafeBC’s cur-
rent handling of their claims lags
behind a new standard being ad-
opted by other provinces.

For physical injuries, Work-
SafeBC automatically presumes
the injury happened on the job un-
til proven otherwise, which is called
presumptive coverage. For those
who claim mental injury, however,
the onus is on them to prove it
happened as a direct result of their
work.

An investigation by Langara’s The
Voice found that B.C. and Quebec
are the only provinces nationwide
without presumptive mental health
coverage.

Former paramedic Lisa Jennings
has been through the process of
negotiating a work-related mental
injury claim, and says WorkSafe’s
system is broken and badly in need
of reform.

Jennings, 51, had her claim that
she suffered work-related PTSD
in 2014 rejected three times be-
fore Worksafe’s appeal tribunal
finally found in her favour on Jan.
17, 2017. But despite the positive
outcome, Jennings says the process
itself is challenging and often re-
traumatizes those suffering from
mental injury.

“How are you supposed to figure
out this system when you're ill?”
Jennings asked.

Jennings said that including
mental injury under presumptive
coverage would drastically reduce
time spent investigating claims and
benefit the province economically.

“Ifyou get put into treatment im-
mediately, treatment costs are lower

TUESDAY, NOV. 28,2017 |

EDITOR VIOLETTA KRYAK

a Ra, a
' e —_—— a
- ies

| : ge

Specialinvestigation

First responders plead for help

PARAMED,
BRITISH
AMBULANCES

%) .*

B.C. paramedics transport a patient in Vancouver's Chinatown neighbourhood on Nov. 23, 2017. Nick vALKA PHOTO

and you go back to work immedi-
ately,” Jennings said.

Under the current system, Jen-
nings says claimants are suffering
needlessly.

Erica Simpson of WorkSafeBC
said that there were a total of 133
claims of severe stress from first re-
sponders in 2016. Of those claims,
66 were accepted and 20 were re-

Some paramedics who have been affected by work-related PTSD are calling

=

for a reform of WorkSafeBC's process for handling their claims. Nick vai Ka

PHOTO

jected, while 16 claims are still
pending adjudication. Twenty-four
claims were suspended, meaning
that the worker chose to not pro-
ceed with the case. Seven claims
were filed in error.

WorkSafe says it has no reports
of any work-related suicides by first
responders in 2016. However, [ema
Conter Memorial Trust reported a
total of 68 public safety suicides in
Canada last year, 19 of which oc-
curred in B.C.

Tema, a national advocacy group
for the mental well-being of first
responders, has been receiving re-
ports and tracking the number of
first responder suicides nationwide
since 2014, when B.C.’s number
was Zero.

Vincent Savoia, founder and ex-
ecutive director of Tema, could only
speculate as to the dramatic differ-
ence between Tema’s statistics and
those provided by WorkSafe.

“WorkSafeBC may only be
tracking those individuals that have
made a claim for PTSD and not
necessarily the first responder who
died by suicide and has not made a
claim,” Savoia said.

To file a mental injury claim,
workers need to be diagnosed by
a WorkSafe-appointed psychiatrist
or psychologist based on the latest
version of the DSM, an American
diagnostic manual of mental disor-
ders.

Savoia says that there’s danger in
how specific the DSM’s definition
of a PTSD diagnosis is.

“A broad definition where it's a
mental health injury, without spe-
cifically focusing on PTSD, pro-
vides quicker access to money,”
Savoia said, adding that this defini-
tion, which Saskatchewan's legisla-
tion adopted, allows workers of all
sorts to receive early diagnosis and
treatment.

On a phone call with Work-
SafeBC, a reporter with The Voice
was transferred between 10 em-
ployees, none of whom could
confirm the average wait time to

be assessed by a psychologist or
psychiatrist. Representatives were
only able to confirm that referrals
generally take between two and six
weeks.

Proposals to change B.C.’s work-
ers’ compensation in the past have
not included retroactive coverage,
meaning that those currently suf-
fering would have to reclaim their
mental injury.

There’s growing concern that the
increase in calls first responders re-
ceive due to B.C.’s opioid crisis will
impact future suicide rates.

B.C. Emergency Health Services
understands the mental toll on its
paramedics, emergency medical
dispatchers and frontline staff, says
BCEHS communications director

Leslie Pritchard.

n average, 1300 calls are
made per day across the
province. They have em-

ployed their Critical Incident Stress
Management program to help
combat the issue.

In 2016, the program's peer team
members responded to 526 occa-
sions where their colleagues were in
need, and 206 paramedics and dis-
patchers were connected with trau-
ma counsellors across the province.
Four employees told program lead-
ers that the help saved their lives.

Pritchard said that so far in 2017,
team members have been dis-
patched more than 450 times, while
the program has referred over 200
staff members for trauma counsel-
ling.

Victoria man Ken Ireson says his
sister, Kathy, has been so debilitated
by work-related PTSD that he has
become her permanent caretaker.

A veteran first responder, Kathy’s
career as a paramedic lasted 34
years.

But in 2010, Kathy experienced
what her brother calls her first
“triggering event,” when she re-
sponded to a call involving a mo-
torcyclist being hit by a transport
truck. The motorcyclist turned out

to be Kathy’s friend.

The doctor at the ER that night
further compounded Kathy’s trau-
ma by convincing her to deliver
news of the man’s loss to his family.

Ireson says Kathy’s injuries only
received recognition from Work-
Safe years later, after additional
job-related traumas made her
symptoms broadly apparent to her
family and co-workers.

“She got no support,” Ireson said.
“She struggled and struggled.”

Ireson says Kathy suffers from
suicidal thoughts, and is reliant
on medication and permanent as-
sistance, but that WorkSafe is still
sidestepping full compensation,
citing a 2013 ruling that Kathy’s
disability was minor and could be
managed.

“It’s like saying you're left handed
because you just haven't worked
hard enough at being right hand-
ed,” Ireson said. “They don't have
choice in the matter. They can’t turn
it on and they can't turn it off.

Ireson said including claims of
work-related mental injury under a
presumptive disability clause would
be a giant step towards caring for
people like his sister, who he be-
lieves are often too sick to care for
themselves.

“People who have PTSD cannot
fight WorkSafeBC,” Ireson said.
“They cannot do this battle.”

PTSD IN CANADAS

OCCUPATIONS

? 25.6% corrections
25.5% Paramedics
17.3% Firefighters
9.2% General population
8.0% Military

V 7.6% Police

SOURCE: INFOGRAM.COM