Tillsonburg Fire take an extra step to ensure personnel know mental health support is available for them.
TILLSONBURG - Fire trucks in Tillsonburg are now adorn with stickers that say #IVEGOTYOURBACK911.
It's part of a new awareness campaign to let dispatchers know mental health help is available.
Tillsonburg Fire Chief Jeff Smith says the campaign was started by a trio of Elgin County paramedics who were alarmed to find out 25 first responders had committed suicide since April of this year in Canada.
"As a bit of an awareness for first responders they started this #IVEGOTYOURBACK911 with a Facebook site and now a website just to make sure First Responders know the importance of their mental health and make sure they know the resources available and to bring awareness to the issue."
Smith says the original concept was to have a group photo taken in your uniform with a sign saying #IVEGOTYOURBACK911 and then post it to their Facebook site. "We took it a bit further -- trying to make it a part of our culture -- we put the sign on the doors of our fire trucks so that everytime someone gets on the apparatus they see this sign and can remind themselves of the importance of it."
"The printing was purposely done small so it doesn't distract from the Fire Department messaging and the 9-1-1 messaging on the trucks but big enough for the firefighters to read," says Smith. "It's really for them to remember their mental health and it wasn't really intended for the general public to see it from a distance."
The decals were placed on the trucks earlier this month.
You can learn more on the campaign website www.ivegotyourback911.com .
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