A series of events are scheduled for June
The Can-Am Police-Fire Games being hosted by Windsor in 2022 will have a focus on mental health with first responders.
The city announced the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex County Branch will be the charity partner for the games.
There will be a series of events around the Can-Am golf tournament in June at Roseland Golf and Curling Club to promote mental health.
Some of the events include a speaker series to hear from survivors and suicide prevention training.
CMHA Spokesperson Kim Willis says the partnership between the association and games makes sense.
"The challenges and the struggles that they can deal with on a daily basis are unique to those professions so it is not uncommon to hear about them dealing with post traumatic stress disorder," says Willis. "There are some that need additional supports and know that it is ok, it is not a sign of weakness to come forward and deal with any of those struggles just like you would deal with a broken arm."
Windsor Fire Chief Stephen Laforet pointed out that first responders are four times more likely to suffer some sort of a mental injury.
"Everybody reacts differently and we don't know how each individual is going to react," he says. "So what we want to do as an organization and as a group regionally is to provide some training opportunities for our staff to give them the tool to deal with stresses as they come up."
The Can-Am Police-Fire Games take place in Windsor July 25-31, 2022.