Horseman braces for budget increase to cover paramedics on extended leave

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

At Huron County Council’s Nov. 19 meeting, Director of Emergency Services Jeff Horseman prepared council for a dramatic increase to his budget for 2026 to keep Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staffed in the face of several leaves.

 

Horseman began the conversation discussing a proposed increase of $31,000 for mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) training, though the county was successful in receiving a $25,000 grant for it, reducing the cost to the county to just $6,000. The grant is for mental health support and is being provided to the county through the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

 

In 2025, it is a strategic priority for Emergency Services and Human Resources to create a workforce that is supported psychologically, which can help counteract increasing [Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)] claim costs. The goal is to support frontline paramedics by increasing resiliency, providing regular and timely access to mental health professionals who are experienced in supporting first responders and providing resources to the peer support team,” Horseman said in his report to council.

 

He then listed four areas of focus for the training:  
• New employee onboarding training, which will provide new hires with information and resources to help them understand the nature and impacts of psychological stressors of their work, normal and expected responses and how to set themselves up to manage the stressors which will come during their career.

 

• Resiliency training for all staff that will focus on how to break negative thought patterns and healthier ways of thinking and behaving by providing tools to improve physical health, mental/emotional health and cultivate a strong support network.

 

• Leadership training to support managing mental health in the workplace providing leaders with tools to identify stressors that are impacting paramedics, ideas for increasing the psychological health and safety in the organization and how to reach out to an employee who may be suffering from a mental health issue.

 

• Peer support team training is a three-day program designed to help first responders become confident, capable, well-informed peer supporters, with increased personal resiliency for the rigors of their frontline and peer support roles using an immersive and experiential approach. A one-day add-on for peer-led group interventions would provide information on peer-led group sessions (“debriefings”) following critical incidents.

 

Horseman said that the combination of being in a rural area and climbing claim numbers clearly indicate a need for services to support employees at a higher level.

 

“Being in a rural community, it can be difficult for paramedics to access treatment providers on a timely basis who have experience treating first responders. Given the number of claims experienced by our paramedics, we know there is a need for psychological support services that can support employees in staying at work or returning to work sooner,” Horseman said in his report. “In 2026, it is recommended that an agreement be made to have a psychologist on retainer to further support paramedics.”

 

He added that the proposed resiliency training will be completed within this year’s existing budget, but, to ensure that best industry practices are met, the aforementioned training improvements are being proposed. The costs break down like this: peer support team training, $18,500; peer-led critical debriefing, $6,000; new employee onboarding resiliency training, $1,800, and leadership training to support managing mental health, $5,500.

 

To frame the conversation, Horseman told council about the provincial government passing the Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act in 2016, which stated that PTSD is essentially assumed to have arisen during the course of the average paramedic’s career. As a result, the local EMS then formed a Psychological Health and Safety Committee as a sub-committee of the Joint Health and Safety Committee with the goal of developing a peer support team and providing education to paramedics. That team has now been in place since 2016.

 

“According to [WSIB], between January 2016 and April 2023, there were approximately 10,500 PTSD claims for first responders. The total cost of these claims was $1.6 billion. Paramedic services saw 3,517 claims with an average claim cost of $87,000. Over 90 per cent of approved PTSD claims included loss of earnings benefits with 64 per cent of paramedics still receiving loss of earnings benefits at 12 months,” Horseman said in his report to council.

 

“At Huron County, between January 2020 and October 2025, we have had 22 employees who filed claims for PTSD. Of those claims, 12 were from 2024 and four from 2025. While most of those employees have been able to successfully return to work, six remain off work at this time. The total cost of these claims, including healthcare costs, lost time costs, backfill coverage, benefits and insurance premiums, is $3,319,008.01.”