The emergency
This spring has been relentlessly wet. Floods are swallowing entire communities.
My name is Pierre. I am a 35-year-old Canadian Armed Forces reservist deployed to work alongside civilian volunteers filling sandbags, reinforcing levees, and running drainage pumps.
The work is physically punishing. I am working long hours with barely enough time to sleep before starting again. My body is constantly sore, and the exhaustion never really lifts.
The work is emotionally draining too. I listen to civilians talk about losing their homes, not knowing where they’ll go, and fearing the financial fallout of the flood.
Their worries stay with me long after my shift ends. After days of nonstop labour, I feel completely depleted and extremely sore. The constant rain makes it difficult to stay warm and dry. I carry a deep sense of guilt about the people we can’t help enough, especially those who have nowhere to go.
On top of everything, I have two young children back home whom I miss more than I can put into words. The distance, the exhaustion, and the helplessness combine into a heavy sadness that leaves me feeling homesick, worn down, and emotionally spent.
How CanEMERG can help
We have fact sheets, tool kits, and resources for responders like Pierre:
- Evacuations and your mental health
- Fact sheet: Managing reactions to stress
- Personal mental health and wellness tool kit
- Strongest Families: Online programs to support the mental health of military members, Veterans, and their families
- CMFWS: Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS): A national peer support network for CAF members, Veterans, and their families
Along with guidance for the practitioners, managers, and administrators who direct the system’s response:
- A guide to managing stress for disaster responders and first responders: A downloadable booklet published by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Community mental health and wellness recovery tool kit
Help is within reach.
