The calls began to affect Hampson. He was called out one night to a rollover and began to think about his family.

鈥淢y daughter had been in town with her boyfriend and she wasn鈥檛 home. The first thought that came into my head was 鈥榦h my God I hope it isn鈥檛 her.鈥� That鈥檚 the kind of fear you develop after a while,鈥� Hampson said.

鈥淚 headed out on the call. I was lead vehicle because I was command,鈥� Hampson said.

It was up the hill coming from Britannia Beach from the south.

鈥淚 slowed down. I was going to pull over and let the truck go ahead of me because I was scared what I was going to see when I got there. I thought 鈥榥o, I can鈥檛 do that. My job is to get there,鈥欌�� Hampson said.

The struggle to prove he had PTSD began for Hampson after a diagnosis from his doctor. He applied to WorkSafeBC and had taken time off the job. What followed were multiple visits to a Whistler psychologist. After awhile he felt better and was looking to get back to work.

鈥淢y claim with ICBC, they challenged me right away and said 鈥榳ell, you shouldn鈥檛 be out on the call, fire chiefs don鈥檛 go out on calls,鈥欌�� Hampson said. 鈥淚 had to argue with them and say 鈥榤aybe in Vancouver.鈥� They still didn鈥檛 believe me.鈥�

Eventually a higher-up confirmed that Hampson did indeed need to be on call at the Squamish department.

鈥淭he next thing they said was you鈥檙e obviously OK because you went back to work,鈥� Hampson said.

After returning to work he received a letter from WorkSafeBC saying his claim for PTSD was rejected and was instead diagnosed with an 鈥渁nxiety disorder.鈥�

鈥�(Hampson鈥檚) phobic fear to MVAs is so strong that he is at risk of causing a serious consequence to others, if he had to face an emergency situation and does not make the appropriate decisions,鈥� the February 2010 letter states, quoting the board of psychology advisor.

鈥淚 looked at it and said 鈥榦h my God,鈥� because they鈥檝e probably axed my job,鈥� Hampson said.

After talking it over with his wife, Hampson decided to enter early retirement, moving to Oliver.

He persisted in challenging WorkSafe that he was suffering from PTSD, though he was informed he had passed the 90-day limit to challenge a claim.

When struggling with mental health, it can be 鈥減retty difficult to go through a logical process,鈥� Hampson said.

After some legislative changes in 2014, Hampson said he was told by a representative that some steps may have been missed in his case. He is still awaiting an answer from WorkSafe on his retirement pension. Hampson is seeking a payout equal to what he would have been earning had he not retired early.

鈥淚鈥檓 able to live on it (pension), but it鈥檚 the principle of the thing,鈥� Hampson said.

He is hopeful the momentum from the UBCM motion will carry forward into results.

鈥淥bviously something is happening now and I think that鈥檚 great,鈥� Hampson said. 鈥淔or 23 years I pay my dues to WorkSafe and they turn around and try and find ways to weasel out of recognizing it. It has to be a better system. You can鈥檛 just run people through like a processing machine. Their job is to save money, not to pay out.鈥�

The psychology of PTSD

Vickie Kampe runs a private counselling practice in Penticton and has training in treating trauma therapy and assisting clients with PTSD.

She also hopes to see changes in the way PTSD is dealt with for first responders.

鈥淚 think sometimes the culture of those workplaces needs to change too. What I鈥檝e heard from first responders is that there may be some hesitation in coming forward and asking for help because they may be perceived as weak or incapable,鈥� Kampe said. 鈥淓specially in that job when you鈥檙e consistently being placed in situations where you鈥檙e witnessing trauma over and over again.鈥�

Every person with PTSD is a unique case, but PTSD can interfere with relationships and day-to-day functioning. It is possible to recover fully from PTSD, with therapeutic methods including revisiting the trauma and learning to see the event in different ways and learning resourcing skills, pairing a calm state with the traumatic memory.

Kampe uses the metaphor of a car alarm for the fight-or-flight response, people with PTSD are no longer in danger, but their brain remains in a hyper-vigilant, car-alarm mode.

鈥淭hat can be uncomfortable when you are unable to relax, when you鈥檙e always on alert, waiting for the next bad thing to happen and being reminded of the event through different triggers  鈥� situations, sounds, memories or nightmares,鈥� Kampe said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in that mode, it takes you right back to the moment.鈥�

She also recommends a standardized protocol as part of the work routine, debriefing allowing first responders to process the events.

鈥淚t should be done in a really skillful way too because when you鈥檙e debriefing you can debrief and focus on the horrific part of it, but then through counselling you would debrief and look at all the resourceful things that were happening,鈥� Kampe said.

Hampson did leave a legacy along those lines at the Squamish department by making some changes to how staff deal with traumatic incidents.

He essentially made it a policy at the department to have post-incident debriefings with a mediator. BC Ambulance would attend and sometimes RCMP.

Finding the positives and the utility in the work, revisiting how the situation would have been worse without the efforts of first responders, would be part of that process Kampe said.

She said those suffering can have a hard time dealing with processes like proving they have PTSD.

鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 a hard thing to prove,鈥� Kampe said. 鈥淚 think we need to make therapy accessible. I think also the more we talk about it and raise awareness and have people come forward and say, yes I suffer with PTSD. It lessens the stigma around this disorder,鈥� Kampe said.

Regardless of his situation, Hampson hopes the system will change so others don鈥檛 have to go through what he did in the future.

鈥淚t won鈥檛 help me, but it will help a lot of other people,鈥� Hampson said.