Mental health, overtime weigh on Edmonton Fire Rescue Services

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With a $6-million tab for overtime last year, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services Chief David Lazenby is balancing adequate staffing and taking care of staff in a challenging environment.

Lazenby’s been in Edmonton for two years as deputy chief, then acting chief, arriving after stints as fire chief in Burlington, Ont., and Brockville, Ont.

Newly appointed Jan. 2 to head a team of 1,300 first responders and staff, he set a tone of openness with media interviews Tuesday.

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Edmonton’s “a very, very challenging environment” for first responders, Lazenby said.

“And I say that as somebody that’s worked on six fire departments, six different municipalities, different provinces, different countries — Edmonton is a hard place for first responders,” he said.

“It takes its toll. It’s a demanding environment, and we’ve got to do the best that we can to make sure that the toll that this job can take on people doesn’t cause a long-term burden.”

Stress of opioid crisis

The effects of the opioid crisis is a daily hit on Edmonton’s first responders.

The four-year trend from 2020 to 2024 was a 270 per cent increase in responses to overdose calls.

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“We responded to 6,598 overdose calls in 2024,” Lazenby said.

While Naloxone administration was down in 2024 — 768 doses administered to revive overdosed individuals versus 1,444 in 2023 — that could be partially accounted for in the anomaly of the summer of 2023, which was “off the charts” for overdoses, Lazenby said.

Seasonal variances often mean reduced numbers in the cooler months, when people using drugs may be sheltering and other institutions are dealing with their overdoses. But the chief warns that numbers are bouncing back with a vengeance over this winter.

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“What we’ve seen over the last three months, in November, December, January, is incredibly unseasonal spikes in overdoses,” he said.

“Typically, we would expect those numbers to go down, because people are more living inside, but we’re responding to a higher level than we typically are used to at this time of year,” he said.

“I’m not quite sure what’s going on yet. We haven’t got the reasoning behind that, but I hope it’s a temporary thing and not kind of an indicator of more long-term problems.”

High number of staff on leave

In 2024, it wasn’t uncommon to see 100 EFRS staffers out on sick leave or on workers’ compensation — a strain for staffing.

Among those on leave, the number of individuals citing mental health as the reason for their absence outage rose to 17 per cent in 2023 and 38 per cent in 2024 from 10 per cent in 2022, almost quadrupling in just three years those willing to disclose mental health reasons for their leave.

The total paid for overtime pay to fill the gaps in 2024 came to $6 million.

“It’s a growing problem. Mental health struggles are real,” Lazenby said, quick to point to a silver lining in the shifting ratios.

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Maybe, he said, in years past, workers suppressed their reasons for taking leave.

“I think if you look at society as a whole, and their attitude towards mental health, there was a stigma.

“I can look back over the last 10 years of my career, and it’s common now for people to talk more openly about mental health and struggles and things. In the past, people who say, you know, ‘I twisted my knee playing hockey,’ and think nothing of it, yet you go to a traumatic call, and there used to be a stigma around saying, ‘You know, I’m really struggling with seeing that,’” Lazenby said.

“I’m seeing signs of progress. It’s not good that anybody’s struggling with a mental health issue, but they’re now more apt to get the help that they need and say, ‘You know what, I’m struggling.’ So although it’s bad anybody’s struggling, it’s good that they’re seeking the help that they need,” he said.

“Now, there’s still a lot of work to do. We still have people struggling in silence. Our focus for 2025 is making sure our people have the supports they need in order to be able to function and absorb the impact of what they see on a daily basis, so they can process it in a healthy way and still function and come to work,” he said.

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The EFRS is evolving, with peer support teams trained to help their colleagues talk things through and process difficult days.

There are treatment programs and employee support programs.

A reintegration program is expected to help those who have been on leave with physical or mental injuries to successfully get back into the workplace.

The department is hosting a summit for partners and spouses to educate them on challenges.

“We talk about wraparound support, sometimes we could give something to somebody that’s very educational, but if they’re in denial themselves, that’s not going to get into the home environment and to have somebody who’s understanding and aware of some of the triggers or signs to look for, they might be able to engage in conversations that say, ‘Hey, you’re not feeling yourself. Maybe you need to go get some access to some of the supports,’” Lazenby said.

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