Behind the Frontlines: Exploring the Mental Health and Help- seeking Behaviours of Public Safety Personnel Who Work to Support Traditional Frontline Operations

Abstract

In public safety, individuals working behind what are often traditionally thought of as the frontlines, such as dispatchers, 911 operators, administrators, health professionals, and civilian police officers, as well as non-deployed police and correctional officers, firefighters, and paramedics, provide invaluable and needed support for frontline employees. Yet, too often the occupational stress and trauma they experience is less recognized or acknowledged. Drawing on qualitative data from an online Canadian survey, where 828 persons provided feedback when asked if they had any final comments, we explore how public safety personnel who are not deployed to incidents or working on the traditional frontline interpret occupational stressors and the justice underpinning their access to mental health supports. Emergent themes reveal those working to support traditional frontline operations also experience trauma and struggle with help-seeking behaviours—specifically they: i) feel like outsiders; ii) are mired with self-doubt while trying to recognize and validate their own struggles with mental health; and iii) express despair that there is no improvement for their situation. Findings are discussed within the context of the justice underpinning such struggles of validating their difficulties.