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In today’s episode, we speak with David Hargreaves a paramedic from Ontario, Canada. Dave was born into a family of first responders, starting his paramedic career in 1985. He is still serving 37 years on. Despite Dave’s love of the work, it comes with its challenges, as shares about one in five serving as paramedics will suffer from some form of PTSD. Paramedics are subjected to traumatic deaths on a regular basis and this affects many who serve. Dave struggled with his PTSD and turned to alcohol until his son talked him into getting help. Dave is now a member of Badge of Life Canada, an organization helping first responders with PTSD.
In this episode, Dave shares what his job was like as a paramedic, how he struggled early in his career to mentally process what he saw on a daily basis, the mentality in the paramedic field towards PTSD, how the culture towards PTSD has improved, how his life and relationships were affected by his PTSD, and his journey to learning to manage his PTSD so that he can still live his best life.
“It was very much an old school mentality; it was suck it up and move on to the next call. If you showed any signs of, what I know now isn’t a weakness, but it was looked at as weakness, they just figured you weren’t cut out for the job” – David Hargreaves on this episode of Wellbeing
Tune in next week when we speak with a Fire Fighter about their PTSD from Fire and Rescue NSW, Australia.
We would love to hear from you! If you would like to suggest topics, give us feedback, or just say hi, you can contact us at wellbeing@2nurfm.com
Host: Jack Hodgins
Wellbeing website: https://www.2nurfm.com.au/wellbeing
The show delves into the most pressing topics around mental and physical health, talking with leading experts in their fields and-those with lived experience.
