NEWS
Last May, over 80,000 Fort McMurray residents were forced to flee their homes due to out of control wildfires that ravaged the community.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GREG HALINDA
Coping with the invisible impacts of the flames The state of mental health in Fort McMurray one year after the wlldfires
J
KARINA YACEYKO
kyaceyko@cjournal.ca
ASHLEY KING
aking@cjournal.ca
anet Caines-Olsen still has a difficult time talking about the unimaginable destruction of the wildfires that hit her hometown on May 3, 2016, forcing over 80,000 people from their homes. “I know I’m traumatized just from the way I feel,” she says, her voice cracking. After fleeing the city with only a few belongings in the backseat of her truck, Caines-Olsen has been left with far more than the bad memories. Just a couple of months after leaving the city she has called home for 17 years, Caines-Olsen was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She recalls feeling anxious, experiencing panic attacks, and being hypervigilant, jumping at the slightest of sounds. She also remembers feeling terrified of losing what she had left. “The few things I had were in my vehicle. And I just kept locking my vehicle all the time to make sure it was locked so I wouldn’t lose that stuff.” Caines-Olsen isn’t alone in dealing with mental health struggles after experiencing an unexpected and traumatic event. SPARKING RESEARCH According to a study conducted by the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters on the impact Slave Lake’s 2011 wildfire had on youth, about 34 per cent of students evaluated six months after the fire showed a likelihood of either partial or full diagnoses of PTSD. 12
MAY/JUNE 2017
In a preliminary study on PTSD symptoms in 379 Fort McMurray evacuees, 60 per cent of online respondents reported significant post-traumatic stress symptoms. Clinical psychologist and head of the study, Geneviève Belleville, says that a more indepth study is set to begin this May - the one year anniversary of the fire - and will proceed for the next two years.
The urgent evacuation of Fort McMurray on May 3, 2016 had many leaving the community with little or no belongings. PHOTO COURTESY OF GREG HALINDA
CALGARYJOURNAL.CA
“It’s hard to compare these results to others that have been previously published because they were collected so soon after the disaster. Some of our participants had not yet returned home so of course they were still in tremendous stress.” Dr. Sandra Corbett, the northern region’s chief of psychiatry, notes the significant increase in the demand for mental health assistance, with more than 24,000 people in Fort McMurray reaching out for mental health support between May and September alone. She points out that many of the residents of Fort McMurray weren’t even fully back home at the time, so the requests for help primarily came from first responders and those trickling into town after the return dates in June. “We’re certainly seeing an increase in referrals. We’ve been really busy in our inpatient unit which has been practically full or overfull since we’ve come back. Lots of referrals from family physicians, lots of new referrals,” says Corbett. “We know from previous disasters that people who’ve already had psychiatric assistance and mental health issues are more vulnerable to be affected by the fires so we’re seeing that too.” POST-FIRE STRESS Cal Hurley was one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose their home – so people tell him. “We say that we just wish it burned,” admits Hurley. Although his home in the Abasand neighbourhood remained standing, dealing with insurance companies and having to tear apart much of the home due to smoke damage has caused considerable stress for the Hurley family.