The family and friends of a Quebec City paramedic who took her own life just over a year after being called to the scene of the 2017 mosque shooting are calling for more psychological help for first responders.
Andreanne Leblanc committed suicide in March, just over a year after the shooting that claimed six lives. Her mother, Lucie Roy, said that despite being a highly social person, her daughter never spoke about what she went through that night.
“Paramedics are always on the ground… sometimes in situations that are very difficult,” she said. “In the heat of the action, they do what they have to do, bringing people to hospital and saving lives. But after, I think there were things that were too difficult.”
"She had all the signs of somebody with post-traumatic stress," she added. "She had difficulty sleeping because her schedule was all damaged, she worked many years at all times of the day... I'm not sure she was realizing it."
Roy said her daughter took time off, thinking she would return to work after a few weeks. But the symptoms never abated.
"She had to see doctors because she couldn't go back to work, she needed medical papers," she said. "In a way, she could talk to the doctor and talk about how she was feeling, but for her, it was temporary. It wasn't as deep as I was, watching her going."
One of Leblanc’s colleagues, Andre Tremblay-Roy, said paramedics regularly witness trauma and it can begin to take its toll. But few know in advance what they will see.
“We have a kind of tag or label of superhero but we remain human. We made a choice in the past to become a paramedic but it’s not easy to realize what will be the scenes, the reality you will face in your career.”
Tremblay-Roy said more needs to be done to help paramedics who have had to respond to traumatic scenes.
“There is no national protocol to determine how we can have an action to be done after a mass shooting or any traumatic incident,” he said. “We have to start having health and security committees… We have to talk more about the brain, the mental health for each paramedic.”
He added that the stress can manifest in different ways, including in worsening relationships with friends and family and that some paramedics aren’t always aware of services available to them. He suggested a program to identify paramedics who can best provide support to colleagues and more mental health training.
But for one colleague, those steps are too late.
“Andreanne was a friend,” said Tremblay-Roy. “She was a friend of my family, my wife and my daughter and it was really a nightmare when I realized what happened.”
