Oliphant, M.P. for Don Valley West and Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, announced, alongside Members of the Committee from all parties, the release of the Committee’s report: Healthy Minds, Safe Communities: Supporting our Public Safety Officers through a National Strategy for Operational Stress Injuries.

This report comes after a study of Operational Stress Injuries (OSIs) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Public Safety Officers and First Responders. All parties on the Committee believe that more can be done in respect of evidence-based research, data collection and the sharing of best practices among departments, agencies and organizations. The Committee recognizes the fact that the majority of public safety officers are provincial employees within the tri-services (fire, paramedics and law enforcement) and believes that this demonstrates the importance and need for federal leadership and effective partnerships among all levels of government.

The report recommends three foundational pieces that will help to ensure accurate data is collected and shared nationally so that public safety officers are supported from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The Committee has called for the creation of a Canadian Institute for Public Safety Officer Health Research and has asked that a mental health prevalence survey be conducted. Furthermore, the Committee has suggested that an expert working group be formed and tasked with the elaboration of a national strategy on OSIs, and that this strategy include policies on prevention, screening, education, intervention and treatment.

“Communities will be safer if our public safety officers are healthier. This is both about the health of individuals who put themselves in harm’s way as public servants and about keeping our communities safe and secure. We are all safer when our firefighters, paramedics, police and corrections officers and those who assist them are healthy and ready to serve.”