Every service has its own culture. We build for yours.

We deliver our three-phase programming to fire services across the Niagara Region, from full-time and composite departments to smaller all-volunteer halls. In a large U.S. study, 46.8% of firefighters reported suicidal thoughts at some point in their career (Stanley et al., 2015).

Volunteer firefighters carry the same calls with fewer supports. Ontario’s presumptive legislation for posttraumatic stress disorder includes volunteer firefighters (Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act, 2016), but a volunteer hall rarely has the wellness budget or staff of a career service. Our programs are scaled to fit.

For police members, the biggest barrier to using internal supports is often the fear that disclosure travels. An external clinical partner sits outside the chain of command. Kelli brings the perspective of a former police officer to that work.

Ontario’s expert panel on police officer deaths by suicide recommended that services build mental health capacity on their own or in partnership with neighbouring services (Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, 2019). Our programs and regional seminars are designed with that in mind.

Paramedics carry high call volumes and repeated exposure to trauma. In a national survey of Canadian public safety personnel, which included paramedics, 44.5% screened positive for symptoms consistent with at least one mental disorder (Carleton et al., 2018). We build peer programs that fit shift patterns, station structures, and the pace of paramedic work.

Dispatchers and communicators hear the worst moments of people’s lives, often without ever learning how the call ended. They belong inside the peer program, not beside it, and we build programs that include them.

We also support community agencies and public-facing teams whose staff carry chronic exposure to other people’s crises. The same model applies: a peer team, clinical backing, and structure that lasts. It also keeps our model tested outside of uniformed services.

Families absorb what comes home from the job. Phase 3 of every program brings partners and families in through orientation, workshops, wellness events, and the Post Critical Incident Seminar. About Phase 3.