That would be a good idea.
In terms of our deployments, the medical team, which included a chief psychologist, a physician, and a security supervisor, would make annual visits to see all the soldiers. We also know that when these visits occur, soldiers have a tendency not to ask for a consultation. That is why we would ask a lot of questions about what had been done. This is what is called earlier intervention. It is not a debriefing, because there isn't any post-traumatic stress. We simply want to know what they're doing.
When a soldier tells us that when he was in Haiti, he was retained at a roadblock for two days, I believe him, because I saw that. It's important for the team to be on the ground. That gives it greater credibility at the debriefing stage, because there is greater understanding.
Before going to Africa, I was told that I wouldn't believe what the guys told me, but when I got there, I did believe them. I know that our soldiers do have access to a medical service, but it is basically for first aid. We call that risk recognition and auditing the activity.
So, when I go to Haiti to see my 100 members, they are given first aid kits and I check to see whether they were able to see a psychologist, whether they used their medication for diarrhea, whether they had the flu, because there is pollution, and so on. We attempt to accurately identify all potential risks. We also verify whether incidents occurred that could shed light on stress-related issues they were unable to perceive.
Let's take a specific example. A Canadian police officer could be told to go up a mountain to arrest someone. When you arrest someone, they're not happy about it. If you don't arrest that person, you're going to have problems, but if you do arrest him, you're going to have even more problems. And then you have to make the two-hour trip back down the mountain without knowing what is going to happen.
So, that police officer experiences stress. Will he crack or won't he? I don't know. As far as military personnel is concerned, there is what we see on television, but it can be somewhat cosmetic. Sometimes we were supposed to leave at 7 in the morning, but we actually left at noon.
I think it is always important for a neutral, professional team to visit people in the field to assess the risks and get a better understanding of what people are likely to experience when they get back home.