Originally posted: July 4, 2024
Siusan MacKenzie is the CEO of The Emergency Services Foundation (ESF) in the state of Victoria, Australia. The ESF has fundraised for and developed their own first responder resiliency program based on the Resiliency in Policing Program designed by Dr. Duncan Shields and Dr. David Kuhl.
I had a chance to meet Siusan in the fall of last year. She and psychologist Dr. Shannon Hood traveled here to learn more about the Resiliency Program so they could fine tune the program they were building. Firefighter mental health advocate Steve Farina and I took Siusan up to Loon Lake so she could see the facility and learn more about the programs from firefighter and police perspectives.
Unfortunately, Siusan shared that the stigma of mental health amongst first responders was very alive and well in Australia, and the number of police officer death by suicide was increasing. She was also worried about how the program was going to be received and if police officers were going to engage in it.
The article “Advocates want more of a conversation on the mental health impact on frontline police” in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Stateline, written by Harvey Biggs, states:
“Research by the Western Australia police union has found the rate of suicide among serving officers has more than doubled in the past decade, and now surpasses the rate of the general population.”
“This year [already in 2024], there have been three deaths by suicide within the force across Australia – two in Victoria and one in Western Australia.”
Heavy stuff, Michele, and why are you talking about Australian police? Because this morning I received an email from Siusan stating that they have completed three of their six Residential Wellbeing Program pilot groups and the next three are fully subscribed. It took exactly one program for the word-of-mouth to work!
Great news! Australian police officers are also eager to learn, listen, and share with others, lightening their load and gaining tools to maintain their resiliency.
Here is more about their program: Residential Wellbeing Program – ESF – Emergency Services Foundation or https://esf.com.au/residential-wellbeing-program/