Police, firefighters and paramedics with post-traumatic stress disorder will no longer have to prove it was caused by tragedies they handled on the job, erasing a major roadblock to prompt treatment.

MPPs from all parties unanimously passed a law Tuesday recognizing the disorder as a work-related illness, which advocates hope will ease a spate of suicides among first responders.

“This is going to save a lot of lives,” said Carmen Santoro, president of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association.

Once the bill receives royal assent — expected soon — the onerous process in which first responders had to detail how they were traumatized by grisly events in the course of their duties should draw to a close.

“They won’t have to re-live it. They won’t have to go through ‘which date did you see that victim at a scene?’ It’s presumed to have happened on the job because of the number of times we’re exposed to those incidents,” Santoro added, noting his and other groups will be watching the Workplace Safety Insurance Board closely.

“It should be automatic. We’ll see how it goes.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said “too many people are struggling, fighting with WSIB to get treatment” under the current rules.

Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said it was “gratifying” to get all-party support and noted first responders are twice as likely to get PTSD as other workers.

He rejected a push to broadly cover nurses and other workers, such as child protection staff, probation and parole officers and provincial bailiffs, as requested by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

“Where a nurse is engaged in a first-responder situation, which we believe they are in corrections, we’ve extended the coverage.”

The law also applies to correctional officers in jails and dispatchers for police, fire and ambulance services. Alberta and Manitoba have similar legislation.

“We will continue to lobby the province to follow Manitoba’s lead and include all frontline workers,” said OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas. “Workers in many occupations face trauma at work.”

New Democrat MPP Cheri DiNovo — who has introduced five private member’s bills in the last seven years to extend automatic recognition of PTSD coverage to first responders — said she was disappointed the legislation did not go further.

“We would like to see some broadening of the scope.”

Still, DiNovo said, the law is a step forward toward the goal of getting first responders treatment as quickly as possible.

“They want to get back to work and they can get back to work. That saves money.”

For the firefighters, Santoro said he wishes the law would allow the cases of first responders who have been rejected over the years to be re-opened.

Flynn hopes the bill’s passage will ease the stigma of PTSD and help first responders to come forward for help when they need it, which a new $300,000 advertising campaign encourages them to do.

“It’s a mental health issue . . . society just hasn’t paid enough attention to mental health issues in general,” he told reporters.

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“If we can prevent people from getting PTSD…we think that is the preferable route.”

Also under the legislation, employers must submit PTSD prevention plans to the government and there will be an annual summit on the disorder where experts, employers and first responders can exchange new ideas and best practices.

“It can be managed, it can be dealt with in a good way, in a meaningful way, but at this point in time it’s incurable,” Flynn added, noting some first responders carry the effects for the rest of their lives.