In March 2018 the Australian Senate referred an inquiry into the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by the “people behind 000” – So, what’s happened since?
One phone call can change everything
When the phone rang at 3:00am in 2016, it changed the course of paramedic Simone Haigh’s life and set in motion a national Senate inquiry into the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by Australia’s emergency service personnel.
The suicide of a close friend and colleague motivated Simone to address the patchwork nature of mental health support systems for first responders across Australia that was contributing to one first responder dying by suicide every six weeks.
There were calls for action – but changes on the ground were not happening fast enough.
The 2018 Senate Inquiry
On the 27th March 2018, the Australian Senate referred an inquiry into the role of commonwealth, state and territory governments in addressing the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by the “people behind 000”.
The inquiry came about as a result of Simone reaching out to senator Anne Urquhart and relating her experiences. This stimulated nationwide conversation regarding the mental health of paramedics, police, and fire professionals as well as volunteer and communications and dispatch staff working in the emergency services sector.
A call for a national action plan to address the high rates of stigma and mental health conditions among emergency services personnel was one of the key recommendations to come out of the inquiry.
The inquiry’s final report drew heavily on Beyond Blue’s landmark 2018 Answering the call survey of over 21,000 emergency services personnel from across Australia and recognised the significance of workplace culture, stigma and the need for a collaborative approach to creating mentally healthy workplaces.
Things seemed to be moving in the right direction. The mental health and well-being of our emergency services personnel, as well as our volunteer and communications and dispatch staff working in the emergency services sector was finally starting to get the attention it deserved.
So…what’s happened since?
The 2019/2020 bushfires left widespread trauma in our communities, especially for those on the frontline.
Much of the media attention focused on the firefighters, but everyone involved in the massive emergency response felt the impact. As the profound mental health toll of the bushfire response was discussed regularly in the media, there was a renewed sense of hope that a national approach to supporting the well-being of emergency services personnel would be prioritised.
Perhaps the silver lining of this horrible disaster would be that the recommendations from the Senate Inquiry into the Mental Health of First Responders would finally be acted on.
And that action is needed.
In the past week several volunteer firefighters in the South East of NSW have spoken out saying they feel let down by the Rural Fire Service (RFS) – which they say has offered them little to no mental health support following the bushfire season – even to those who lost their homes while fighting the fires.
Some say they haven’t had a debrief or even received a phone call to check on their well-being since the fires, and have been left to recover with no psychological help along the way.
Ben Shepherd from the RFS said support was being provided to volunteers and that more than 2,000 members had either sought support or been proactively approached by critical incident support services.
However, many RFS volunteers report that the support provided consisted of a bulk email providing the number to an Employer Assistance Program (EAP) telling responders to call if they needed help.
However, many RFS volunteers report that the support provided consisted of a bulk email providing the number to an Employer Assistance Program (EAP) telling responders to call if they needed help.
A new approach to well-being is needed
Employee Assistance Programs are limited in their usefulness and do not fully meet the needs of emergency services personnel – especially when they are in crisis. These programs are also limited in their ability to effectively deal with the complex mental health and well-being needs of emergency service personnel and volunteers.
The existing evidence-base largely supports this, with one EAP industry trends report suggesting that only 6.9% of people actually use them.
So does real-world feedback.
“The last thing I want to do when I can barely get dressed in the morning or when just going to the supermarket feels too hard is to call some stranger at the EAP and pour my guts out. Now if my actual service cared enough to take the time to call me and say ‘just wanted to see how you were travelling’ I would probably be more likely to admit that I wasn’t doing real well,” volunteer firefighter – RFS
It’s clear that a new approach to providing well-being support is needed. Perhaps this could be the silver lining that will come out of the devastating bushfires?
We need an approach to well-being that removes the onus on the individual “reaching out” to one that promotes the organisation “reaching in” to those who may be struggling.
We need an approach that is built on the needs of both currently serving and veteran members. We need an approach that welcomes first responder families.
We need an approach that is not based on sending a generic email to responders in crisis telling them to contact a stranger at an external EAP’s.
Volunteer organisations need a model that doesn’t rely on other untrained or minimally trained volunteers to provide well-being support, potentially exposing them to risk of vicarious trauma and providing minimal benefit to the person in crisis.
The bushfires have unfortunately highlighted that nothing has really changed since the 2018 Senate inquiry.
The issues that our emergency services personnel faced before in terms of adequate mental health support, stigma, organisational culture, fragmentation of services, and the lack of specialised counselling services all still need to be addressed.
What will it take for it for us to see real change?
When will we start reaching in and stop expecting people in crisis to reach out?
