Local fire departments have teamed up on an initiative to help their fellow members deal with the trauma that can come with the job of being an emergency responder.

Several members from the Altona/Rhineland, Plum Coulee, Winkler and Morden fire departments have taken training in stress management and will form a regional critical incident stress management team.

A critical incident usually involves a death or serious injury of a fellow emergency worker or a citizen and can have a significant psychological effect on the emergency service worker.

"There's a whole program out there to help mitigate the effects of a critical incident because critical incident stress and cumulative stress, in the end, usually leads to post-traumatic stress syndrome," said Altona/Rhineland Fire Chief Greg Zimmerman.

According to Zimmerman, death is not a normal experience for most people and the same is true for emergency workers whether they are a paramedic, a police officer or firefighter.

"What we're trying to do is organize a team of peer councillors along with help from mental health professionals and we're organizing it for the Pembina Triangle Mutual Aid District, which includes all nine fire departments, to be available for them."