REGINA – We often hear about ways to treat and support first responders living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but new research out of the University of Regina is looking at ways to prevent it in the first place.
Doug Lapchuk doesn’t live with PTSD, but says every call he receives as Balgonie’s deputy fire chief involves some degree of stress.
“We end up seeing stuff that you can never un-see,” he explained. “One time we were 22 minutes out and I did CPR with paramedics in the ambulance, and we still lost the child. You know that’s a hard thing.”
Needless to say, the job can take its toll, but Lapchuk says recognizing the impact isn’t always easy.
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“Your stress is up pretty high but a lot of it is replaced initially by adrenaline. I think the stress hits after.”
Scott Bishop, a lead graduate student working on the U of R study, says the research will look at the physiological changes connected to chronic stress among first responders.
“This research will help people who don’t have PTSD, but are very likely to get it,” he explained.
Using a transcranial dopplar ultrasound, researchers will record a participant’s brain blood flow and use music based analysis to examine changes to heart rate patterns.
The study will then compare those results with data collected out in the field by different heart and head monitors.
“We want to give the officers themselves, their own physiology so they can whip out their phone and say, ‘Okay, I actually am stressed. Maybe I should let someone else go out on the next call.’ ”
Development of the accessible technology is still years away but couldn’t come soon enough to those risking their lives every day.
“If this research at the university is going to find some way to pick up on those triggers and help people recognize that they need help, I think that will be invaluable,” Lapchuk said.
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