Looking to both meet with local residents, and promote the importance of mental health in emergency management, Tony Pearce, chairman of the Emergency Services Foundation and Inspector-General for Emergency Management has been undertaking a 1440 kilometer walk across Australia’s State of Victoria. Started on March 10th, his path has taken him through various regions affected by the bushfires that devastated parts of Victoria in 2019 and 2020, and given him opportunity to talk about the impacts of these and other disasters on mental health.“We are seeing larger and longer duration emergencies affecting our communities,” Pearce told Shepp News. It’s increasingly evident that members of our emergency services community, who give so much to Victorians before, during and after these emergencies, are at increasing risk of suffering a mental injury due to the type of work that they do to keep us safe.”
The need for better mental health services is supported by a study from Beyond Blue, which has shown first response and emergency service workers as being more likely to suffer mental illness due to their jobs than those in the wider community. Says Susan MacKenzie, CEO of the Emergency Services Foundation, “That’s why our focus is on prevention and early intervention. We must make sure we have the best possible programs to help support those who are always ready to support our community.”
A diary following Tony’s Trek is available at the Emergency Services Foundation website.
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