I am writing to let you know about the work we are doing to help the Ontario First Responders who are suffering from work-related traumatic mental stress. I am hoping to ask for your assistance in seeking support for our innovative approach. This discussion is timely as there were 3 police suicides in Canada in the last week, 2 in Ontario.

I am the Medical Director of Project Trauma Support (PTS), a Canadian Charity that addresses PTSD and Moral Injury in Military Members, Veterans and First Responders. We have been offering residential programs at our farm in Perth for over 10 years, beginning in May 2016.

We have been following the concerns about the number of Ontario first responders that are off work for traumatic mental stress, and the pressure points coming from taxpayers, chiefs responsible for scheduling and budgets, the various associations, and members themselves. After 10 years of providing successful mental health services to military members, veterans and first responders, we wish to put forth a solution that we believe can benefit everyone: Effective treatment.

The retreat programs we provide can easily be accessed by first responders across the province. The Encompas program of the OPPA is currently funding the treatment that we provide to select OPP members, but their budget is limited. There are many first responders that have successfully remained at work or returned to work, sometimes after significantly prolonged absences, following completion of the PTS 6-day program. Our success rates are much higher than the published WSIB statistics, and much less costly to the taxpayer. The PTS program is unique in that it addresses Moral Injury as well as Post Traumatic Stress. Moral injury is a significant contributor to the mental distress suffered by first responders involved in critical incidents. Moral injury is not a condition that is covered by WSIB yet is often what causes the burden of suffering.

We propose that the PTS program could be easily accessed without the administrative wait times and burden that comes with accessing WSIB claims and benefits. First Responders who are good candidates for the PTS program could avoid prolonged and often permanent absences with timely intervention using the PTS program at strategic points. The program has shown benefit in helping first responders build resilience prior to stressful incidents, process salient incidents immediately after they occur in a psychologically healthy way and treat individuals who have had prolonged or cumulative stress that has led to significant functional impairment. The program utilizes trained mentors with lived experience, which provide a very cost effective and powerful approach to healing.

We are also pioneers in ketamine assisted psychotherapy, not only for individual first responders and military members/veterans, but we also offer a couples ketamine assisted psychotherapy program for which we have received encouraging feedback. I am on the Ontario Medical Association Executive for Psychedelic Medicine. Our group advises the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario on the protocols we feel should be adopted for safe administration of ketamine and other psychedelic substances.

In a world where the work of police, firefighters, paramedics and correctional officers is becoming more complex and dangerous, we need new and innovative approaches to support them. We offer an affordable, barrier-free, effective solution that has proven itself for 10 years.

Please look at the Google reviews for Project Trauma Support for some of our participants’ feedback.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with you to further discuss our program.

Sincerely,

Manuela Joannou M.D. CCFP(EM)FCFP
Medical Director