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29| O akville B eaver | T hursday,June 14,2018 insidehalton.com Burlington Featuring Oh My Gauze Comfy & Stylish with the WOW Factor 100% Cotton Marilu's Plaza • www.jusbgauze.com news of the federal invest- ment. Wright runs the organi- zation and wellness unit, which has been running for about two years and works with psychologists to provide support for members of the Halton Re- gional Police Service. "PTSD is something we're not immune to, so any support and ongoing research into that is just going to be a benefit to all," he said. "It's one thing to say that someone has PTSD, but there has to be a diagnosis and look into programs to work the members through the issues they're feeling and that's really where the work needs to continue." Wright noted the re- gional police service has benefitted from mental health and PTSD getting more public awareness. "There is much more understanding at all levels that the mental health of all our members is of para- mount importance. Recog- nizing that from the chief down, getting the informa- tion out to our members and getting a small unit that people can refer them- selves to or be referred to, is hugely beneficial," he explained. "The fact that people can make appointments, confidentially and offsite, is certainly been a huge as- set to us." Vanessa Vis, a Halton paramedic for the past six years, said to get funding for more research into PTSD to eventually devel- op best practices would ab- solutely help out emergen- cy medical services. She said she found it dif- ficult to find research and best practices to bring to Halton Paramedic Servic- es when she was involved in developing a peer-sup- port program. Vis noted there only one paramedic service, in York Region, that had peer sup- port going at the time - her team also spoke to Hamil- ton and Halton police ser- vices to get their takes on it. "So, the research be- hind PTSD and developing best practices, that's the big thing for us to utilize. For my peers, to see that support and have that backing behind us (from the federal government) is important," she explained, noting it's been a positive thing that more people talk about PTSD and recognize it. "The stigma and the awareness around it has changed dramatically in the last few years, which is quite remarkable." The 2018 federal budget will also invest $10 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, for Public Safety Canada to work with the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment to develop a web-based cognitive beha- vioural therapy pilot. The program is meant to provide greater access to care and treatment for public safety officers across Canada, particular- ly in rural and remote ar- eas. As well, the federal gov- ernment has earmarked $12.4 million over five years to the RCMP to sup- port the mental health needs of its officers. NEWS lContinued from page 28 Government funding for mental health should help EMS services eventually "This is the beginning in recognizing the mental health injuries public safety officers experience on the job." - Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff Don't be a LitterBug! Please keep our community clean.