Alberta’s firefighters, police officers, paramedics, sheriffs, corrections officers and emergency health care workers often deal with stressful, dangerous and traumatic situations. This stress has a negative impact on first responders and emergency health care workers. They often experience post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) at significantly higher rates than the general population.
The Supporting Psychological Health in First Responders (SPHIFR) grant program has 2 separate funding streams:
- Stream 1 (Services) provides funding for non-profit organizations that provide services to first responders and emergency health care workers living with or at risk for PTSI.
- Stream 2 (Research) provides funding to researchers engaged in applied research that generates evidence on prevention or intervention for first responders and emergency health care workers living with or at risk for PTSI.