MINTO – The Mapleton, Minto and Wellington North fire departments will receive a total of $75,000 through the provincially-funded Mental Health Supports for Public Safety Personnel program (MHS4PSP).
Minto council received the report on Oct. 28 and passed it unanimously.
“Back in the spring the government put out a grant for mental health support for public safety personnel,” deputy fire chief Callise Loos told council.
The grant falls under the umbrella of a new organization, Warrior Health, which was created by the province.
Warrior Health is a consortium-powered mental health initiative established under the MHS4PSP program in partnership with Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General.
It is designed to support more than 80,000 public safety professionals in the province including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, emergency dispatchers, correctional staff, forensic specialists and others exposed to trauma on the job.
“We put together a business case [and] asked for $30,000 and were awarded $75,000 for training next year,” she explained.
Each department is to receive $25,000 to train its firefighters and their families to implement preventative measures to help deal with occupational stress injuries.
“A variety of courses can be offered teaching resiliency, coping mechanisms or methods to identify and help someone in crisis,” the report states.
“With this much funding, we will be able to offer a number of courses that should boost our wellness programming and help … our fire families become more resilient.”
