Mostly happy but a couple sad bucks as well (mainly related to snow and winter).
50/50
Dr. Watt drew Sam Monsour’s number, but unfortunately Sam did not find the joker.
Guest Speaker: Sgt John Svab from the Ottawa Police
“Wellness at The Ottawa Police”
John is in his nineteenth year with the Ottawa Police and understands fully the issues affecting the police members today.
The Wellness Program was developed following an epidemic of suicides within the Police Department. The organization felt they were not doing enough to support members and their families in crisis situations. The traditional view was to ‘suck it up’ and drink a lot; do not talk about it because you may be considered weak. This approach was not working. Educating people on mental illness and mental health needed to be addressed.
Two positions were created and the positions had to be filled by members with the rank of sergeant; Peer Support Coordinator and a Resiliency Coordinator. Sgt. Svab is the Resiliency Coordinator and his role consists of:
Development and implementation of an early intervention program for the OPS
Track and monitor critical incident calls
Coordinate mental health training for OPS
Developing policy protocols that support member resiliency
Peer Support Coordinator role consists of:
Build resource list of psychologists, based on member referrals
Deliver peer support engagement sessions
Wellness communication
Mental health is an issue that affects us all and it is encouraging to know that help is available to the uniformed men and women that police our city daily.
President Joan Hunter and Jim MacDonald from the Thunder Bay Rotary Club exchanged pennants.
President Joan ended the meeting promptly at 1:30 pm.
