Lambton EMS says the passage of legislation supporting first responders with PTSD is a great first step.
Dozens of police, firefighters and paramedics were at the Ontario legislature Tuesday to watch unanimous passage of a bill that recognizes post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as work-related illness for their professions.
Under existing rules, first responders have to prove their PTSD is related to their job to be eligible for coverage under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
The new legislation that assumes PTSD is work-related for first responders passed third and final reading by a vote of 96-0.
Lambton EMS Deputy Manager Jeff Brooks says time will tell if it goes far enough.
"I think it's a great step in identifying the problems that can occur in emergency medical services as well as other first responders," says Brooks.
"We have to see how this legislation plays out and how it works before we can really make a decision on whether it's enough or not. We have to evaulate to see how this works."
The act applies to police officers, firefighters, paramedics, certain workers in correctional institutions and secure youth justice facilities, dispatchers of police, firefighter and ambulance services, and emergency response teams.
The government says first responders are at least twice as likely as the general population to suffer from PTSD, and that the condition results in more suicide attempts than all other anxiety disorders.
-With files from the Canadian Press