With the COVID-19 pandemic now entering its third year, the impacts on the mental health of many people continues to grow – and with no immediate end in sight to the global health crisis, the need for support has never been greater.
Due to the very nature of their work, first responders have been among the groups most impacted by the pandemic, facing great and ongoing hardships so that their fellow citizens can receive the emergency help they need.
It is not overstating things to say that Alberta’s first responders have done heroic public service during the past many long months.
The new Supporting Psychological Health in First Responders program will provide $1.48 million to support the mental health of first responders and will go a long way towards addressing needs, says Tyler Shandro, minister of Labour and Immigration.
“First responders and emergency health-care workers have our backs and it’s appropriate that we have their backs by providing for their mental health needs,” Shandro said.
The program doesn’t go nearly far enough, counters NDP health critic Christina Gray.
“The UCP’s repeated failures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed first responders to wave after wave with little concern for their mental health or the trauma they face,” said Gray.
“While the ongoing operation of this 2020 program is welcome, it simply does not go far enough to repair the immense damage the UCP has done to workers. Right now, nurses and other front-line care providers who have experienced trauma may have to enter a drawn-out fight for WCB coverage, because the UCP repealed presumptive coverage provisions.”
During the pandemic many, many Albertans have counted on first responders as never before. As such, every effort must be made to support first responder mental health and well-being.
Whether the Kenney government is doing enough, as it claims, or not enough, as the government's critics contend, will be something every Alberta community will be watching very closely in the days and months ahead.
Dan Singleton is an editor with The Albertan.
