Brought to you by Families First: Supports for Occupational Stress Inc.
In Partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada
WARRIOR KIDS CAMP
This two-day resilience promoting camp will help kids 8-16 yrs old who have a parent with an occupational stress injury (military, Veteran, First Responders & Public Safety Personnel) build positive relationships with peers, gain knowledge of the injury, and new coping skills that will help them continue to thrive within their family and community.
Bayside Camp, Halifax Nova Scotia
Date TBD
​
October 10 & 11, 2020
Camp Van Es
South Cooking Lake, Edmonton, Alberta
​
Lavrock Camp, Newfoundland
August 1 & 2 2020
​
Camp Samac, Toronto
August 4 &5 2020
Strengthening Canada's First Responder, Military and Veteran Families
Recently there is an increased awareness of the secondary impact trauma has on children, especially those with a parent diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from service related experiences (e.g. military deployments, first-responder critical incidents, repeated exposure to traumatic events). Several treatment programs have been designed for caregivers of PTSD to support their mental health (COPE, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Couples with PTSD) however there are limited programs offered to support children/youth through the stressors connected to parental occupational stress injury that are evidence-informed or evidence base. There is strong evidence suggesting that programs offering resilience based strategies creating a community of care perspective can be an important protective factor for children living with a parent with mental health concerns
What is an Operational Stress Injury
Public safety officers play a critical role in keeping our communities safe from a range of threats, putting their lives on the line to protect us. In the course of their daily work, public safety officers are repeatedly exposed to traumatic incidents, which can put them at great risk for operational stress injuries (OSI), including post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI).
Frequently Asked Questions
​
What is a public safety officer?
Public safety officer is a broad term meant to include front-line personnel who ensure the safety and security of Canadians. These include first responders such as fire fighters, police, and paramedics, search and rescue volunteers, correctional services officers, border services officers, operational intelligence analysts, Indigenous emergency managers, and others working in the field.
​
What is an operational stress injury?
An operational stress injury is a non-medical term that is generally defined as “persistent, psychological difficulties resulting from operational duties”.
​
Within the broad category of operational stress injuries related to public safety officers and other operational personnel, a number of mental health issues can be described as Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries (PTSI), including depression, substance abuse, and clinically diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Although an OSI is not a formal medical diagnosis, this term allows for individuals to describe and capture the emotional and behavioural effects that exposure to trauma related experiences can have on front-line responders, and military and veteran members.
Warrior Kids Camp understands that getting a formal diagnosis of PTSD may not be possible for some (including realities of stigma) however, the impact of an Operational Stress Injury is very real and present for the first responder , veteran, correctional services worker, police officer and their families. Regardless of the label, support for building strong resilient warrior families can benefit the entire family system.
Everyone should have access to the support they need.
Campers get an amazing hands on experience Saturday and head to DreamCatcher's Animal and Nature Assisted Ranch
This child-Centred camp program is based on the idea that children express themselves non-verbally through play, painting, dancing, making music, sculpture and other creative outdoor activities (referred to the many languages of children). This program is designed to support children to play, create, explore, socialize and challenge themselves with the support of attuned and specially trained adults. In addition, there is important evidence on the use of nature as a critical partner in the healing process for children (Berger & Lahad, 2013).
Camp Highlights
This two-day resilience promoting camp will help kids who have a parent with an occupational stress injury (military, Veteran, First Responders) build positive relationships with peers, gain knowledge of the injury, and new coping skills that will help them continue to thrive within their family and community.