Health committee  Too many.

Health committee  I look at my own Tema Conter call. I reacted one way. My partner was totally fine with the incident. We attended to the same call, but for some reason, I perceived that call completely differently.

Health committee  I think that's an excellent idea. I'd be cautious, though, about peer supports. Historically in Canada, most peer support organizations within the first responder community have used a model called critical incident stress management, or CISM. The model works if it's utilized appropriately, but what we're finding most often is that a first responder will take three or four days of training and all of a sudden feel empowered to conduct a psychological debrief.

Health committee  Exactly, they've experienced it. Again, when it comes to trauma, in my opinion the reason that it's so difficult to understand is that one's response to trauma is a result of previous life experiences, morals, values, and the perception of the event. It's a combination of things and it's very complex.

Health committee  That is a really difficult question because I know individuals, for example, who were physically or sexually abused as children. They're working as first responders and they're coping with attending to these types of calls very, very well because they have been able to deal with those issues themselves.

Health committee  The Mental Health Commission of Canada has introduced its new road to mental readiness program that speaks to that exactly. It has been adopted by various police organizations across the country, and that entire program is geared to recognizing those signs and symptoms early.

Health committee  I would agree. One of the factors that concerns me is that when I received my paramedic training back in 1981, at no time did I receive any sort of training in suicide or crisis intervention. That is still the same today. Our first responders, even though they attend to suicide calls, are not trained in suicide intervention nor trained in crisis intervention.

Health committee  My colleague Dr. Jeff Morley, who's a psychologist, says it best, that there is no test available to predict who will be susceptible to post-traumatic stress. Unless you want to hire somebody who will be a psychopath or a sociopath, no such test exists. When we look at the causation of PTSD, it's exposure to a traumatic event or a series of traumatic events, and we really can't identify which event might be that trigger.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Vince Savoia. I am the founder and executive director of the Tema Conter Memorial Trust. January 27, 1988 was a day that changed my life forever. Working as a paramedic in Toronto, I attended to the homicide of Tema Conter. What made that call so unique for me was that, as I stood over the bed and I looked at Tema, I was sure it was my fiancée who had been raped and murdered.