Emergency crews may be struggling after responding to Humboldt crash

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – For over a week now we’ve been reporting on the aftermath of the deadly Humboldt bus crash and the stories of the victims and survivors.

Today, we’re shedding some light on the first responders who handled the tragedy and who may be having a hard time coping with what they saw.

They could be feeling anything from shock to guilt but hopefully not the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), explains Vancouver Fire Captain Jonathan Gormick.

He adds it’s part of the job to respond to horrific scenes, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

“People are going to see things that they don’t deal with, that their mind doesn’t want to deal that bring up old memories or for a reason they can’t describe — it strongly affects them and it’s important they seek the appropriate kind of help and they decompress and they deal with those feelings before they manifest in really negative ways.”

Gormick adds personal factors can also make it difficult when crews respond. For example, if one of the firefighters who attended last week’s call in Humboldt has a child that is the same age as the victims, it could hit them twice as hard.

“Every first responder is going to be affected in a negative way by a call and it’s critical that we get early intervention and that we break down the stigma about talking about these kinds of things.”

He says the lasting effects of a crash like this can be tough to avoid, because we’re all human. “These are really why we see mental illness and mental injury being so pervasive in the first responder community. We’re all in these careers because we’re caring, empathetic people and the vast majority of us have families and seeing people in distress is hard on us. If we don’t decompress from it properly, if we don’t find the proper outlets or don’t have the proper social safety net to decompress and deal with these issues, they can have long-lasting and detrimental effects.”

Gormick adds his department has expanded mental health programs to help firefighters deal with any issues and to be able to speak up when they need help. Police departments do the same.

Dozens of police officers, firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene of last Friday’s crash that left 16 people dead and 13 others injured.

Funerals have been taking place all week.

Click here for full online coverage of the Humboldt tragedy.

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