The top paramedic in the region, who's working to limit roadside memorials, is thankful for the support of a local municipality.
Cochrane District EMS chief paramedic Jean Carrier was at the Town of Cochrane's council meeting yesterday (Nov. 14) to make a presentation. He used the opportunity to thank the town for their initiative of supporting the roadside memorial timestamp.
At the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board's (CDSSAB) September meeting, Carriere told board members about the lasting impact that public-area memorials have on the mental health of local paramedics and other first responders.
Board members, which include mayors and councillors from across the district, were asked to bring the idea forward to each of their municipalities.
Cochrane was the first council to move on it and is looking at ways to regulate the memorials.
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Every time first responders pass a roadside memorial they have to relive what happened, Carriere said.
“The paramedics, the firefighters, the police officers, and even volunteers or the public who's responded to those incidents, every time they drive by that memorial they relive what happened at that incident,” he said.
“So, that's one of the contributing factors when it comes to supporting the mental health of our first responders. If we could alleviate some of those triggers, that gives us a chance.”
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Instead of roadside memorials, Carriere said there could be a memorial park.
At Gillies Lake in Timmins, he said there are trees, park benches and lampposts that have been sponsored in memory of people.
“I think the municipalities can go a step further and say, you know, we recognize our first responders and we're going to make sure that we give them every opportunity to stay healthy and keep serving the great community that they're living and working in.”
During the meeting, a question about the control municipalities have if a fatality happens on a highway not owned by a city or township was raised.
Carriere noted that memorials for those types of incidents are generally placed on the other side of the ditch, which is then municipally owned or controlled land.
Mayor Peter Politis said it’s a sensitive issue for everyone.
“Nobody's saying that we stop putting memorials up, everybody recognizes that's an important part of grieving and an important part of the human side of closing that door and remembering the people that we lost, the loved ones that we lost,” he said.
“It’s simply some constructive regulation to help us establish something that in a way not only allows folks to continue to put memorials up and grieve, but is sensitive to everybody else that's involved as well, too. Paramedics are the folks that are the first on site and that's a very difficult position to be in and as human beings, that's going to affect some people at the end of the day.”
