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Firefighters hope coin will spark conversation about mental health
MEDICINE HAT, AB — A group of Alberta firefighters have launched a new initiative aimed at allowing first responders to break down barriers and talk about mental health.
Project All In was created by a pair of Alberta firefighters, as a way to address mental health issues and concerns they are having. The project sees first responders purchase a coin, which they can use to discreetly tell fellow colleagues that they need to talk.
Gregg Schaalje, who currently works as a firefighter with Rocky View County, came up with the idea alongside fellow firefighters Chad Guenter and Ryan Fowler, while they were paddle boarding with another firefighter on the Bow River eight weeks ago. Schaalje said it was a great idea, and noted the next day he had to attend a debriefing session with his fire department.
“After I came out of that meeting, I called Chad up, and said, ‘we have to do this idea, we have to do the coin, let’s get on it, and let’s do it immediately,’” he said over the phone from Okotoks earlier this week.