By EMS1 Staff
VICTORIA, British Columbia — A paramedic was granted worker’s compensation after winning an appeal that argued her PTSD was work-related.
Lisa Jennings, 51, won the appeal after a three-year insurance battle, reported the Times Colonist. Jennings filed the claim based on an assault that occurred in 2014. Jennings said the incident left her with suicidal thoughts and flashbacks.
“This is for all the first responders in B.C.,” Jennings said. During her fight to win worker’s compensation, Jennings had to live out of her car due to financial strains.
She hopes her case encourages other responders who suffer from PTSD to file such claims. In 2015, British Columbia paramedics filed 95 mental disorder claims; only 13 were accepted by the insurance agency.
Moreover, of the 19 first-responder suicides recorded in 2016, as many as 16 of them had claims denied.
“Don’t ever give up on yourself. Don’t let anybody or any organization take your integrity,” Jennings said.