Before the Frontline: The Canadian National Public Safety Communicator Study

Abstract

Most often, public safety communicators are the “first” responders while also serving as the lifeline to those deployed to the call for service. Communiators occupy an instrumental role in public health and safety for those deployed and for those calling for help. In recognition of the the role of communicators, we conducted a national study of their health and wellbeing. In the current article, we speak to the impetus for our study, what we did, what we have found so far, and what is still to come from the work. Current published findings include scholarship on the occupational experiences of communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic, the implications of leadership behaviours on communicators, and the effects of organizational culture on communicators' mental health and wellbeing. We also have studied barriers to communicators seeking mental health help.  The future holds statistical work noting the prevalence of suicidality and mental health disorders among communicators, to name a few areas of current inquiry.