Lakeshore Fire Chief Recognized Trainer

Hello time traveller!!
This article is 2799 days old.
The information listed below is likely outdated and has been preserved for archival purposes.

Lakeshore Fire Chief, Don Williamson was recently recognized in the Firefighting in Canada Magazine for Road to Mental Readiness trainer.

With the mental wellness challenges facing emergency responders the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs partnered with the Mental Health Commission of Canada to implement the “Road to Mental Readiness” (R2MR) program. Through this partnership forty instructors were selected and certified to provide the training.

The training consists of eight hours for supervisors and four hours for front line staff. A key component of R2MR is to have all employees at all ranks speaking the same language when presenting an assessment of a mental health concern. It is a peer driven, proactive model with the intent to create a psychologically safe environment. R2MR has a solid foundation in the concept of resilience which is the ability to recover quickly, resist and possibly even thrive in the face of direct/ indirect traumatic events and adverse situations encountered in training and operational environments. Recovery from both physical and mental hardships is required throughout a career in the fire service.