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A tender to create a website to help with the mental health of first responders will close on Tuesday at 4pm.
Argyle-Barrington MLA Colton LeBlanc, a member of the Standing Committee on Health, is also a first responder himself and he feels it is a great initiative.
Overall he likes what he sees so far and hopes the current initiatives are linked on the site.
“For paramedics and other first responders themselves, their families, and their employers and it’s the right direction to seek help in a time of crisis. It’s unfortunate that there are extended wait times to access mental health or that people are in fact turned away and it leads to detriment for family, for first responders, and others.”
LeBlanc says dealing with mental health is an ongoing process.
“I believe it’s one in five paramedics have been diagnosed with PTSD. Since 2018, we’ve seen a change with the WCB standards, that they now accept PTSD as a work-related incident. So, I believe it’s a step forward in the right direction.”
He likes the initiative and hopes it helps improve health care services.
“My concern, though, is, you know, we know first hand in this province the challenges that exist to access health care, and that includes mental health in our province, so I hope this is an opportunity to close the gaps and be an eye-opener for the government.”
The tender, through the Workers Compensation Board of N.S., can be seen on the provincial procurement site under “tender details”.
