WCB Is Dead Wrong on PTSD for First Responders
Const. Larry Williams (not his real name) went out on what should have been a routine welfare check. The neighbours had reported hearing yelling, then silence. When he arrived, the door was open. There was a bloody footprint on the floor. He called out. No answer.
Upstairs, he found the bedroom door jammed. He pushed against it and felt resistance. When it finally gave, he found the body. Alone, he tried CPR, but the person was already gone. By the time backup arrived, he had been in that house, alone with the deceased, for five minutes.
In the weeks that followed, the images wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t focus. He avoided similar calls. He kept showing up and trying to tough it out, but eventually it got to be too much. He saw a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with PTSD. His WCB claim was filed under Alberta’s presumptive coverage for first responders.
It was denied.
According to one adjudicator, finding a dead body is “part of the job.”
According to another, there was no “personal threat.”
And according to WCB? The presumption doesn’t apply.
Except it does. That’s what makes this so maddening.
And here’s the part that should concern every first responder in Alberta: the person calling this out is not just any psychologist. Dr. Patrick Baillie is both a psychologist and a lawyer. He’s worked with police officers for 30 years. If anyone understands how PTSD develops in that line of work — and how WCB is mishandling these claims — it’s him.
In a published op-ed, Baillie explained how WCB is applying the wrong standard entirely. They’re not following DSM-5, which is what the Workers’ Compensation Act requires. Instead, they’ve published their own internal definition of what counts as a traumatic event, and they’re using that to sidestep claims that would otherwise be automatically accepted under the law.
That’s how Williams’ claim got denied. WCB decided the call wasn’t sudden or unexpected enough. They decided there wasn’t enough of a personal threat. Never mind that the legislation says none of that matters if a licensed physician or psychologist has diagnosed PTSD in a first responder.
And never mind that WCB’s own internal policies contradict the legislation they’re supposed to be applying.
This isn’t a small technicality. This is WCB inventing its own rules and then applying them in place of the law. It’s wrong. And it’s dangerous.
What the Law Actually Says
Alberta’s Workers’ Compensation Act is clear. If a first responder is diagnosed with PTSD by a doctor or psychologist, WCB is required to presume it’s work-related. The burden of proof isn’t on the worker. The claim should be accepted unless there’s strong evidence to the contrary.
WCB didn’t follow that.
Instead, they leaned on an internal fact sheet that says something different: that the traumatic event has to be shocking, sudden, involve a specific threat to the worker’s physical safety, and happen at a defined place and time.
But that’s not what the legislation says. And it’s not what the DSM-5 says either — which is the diagnostic standard WCB is supposed to be using.
The DSM-5 allows for PTSD when someone has direct exposure, witnesses trauma, or has repeated or extreme exposure to details of traumatic events. It literally gives the example of police officers being exposed to graphic scenes or child abuse imagery.
WCB is ignoring its own legislation, and instead applying its own narrow internal standard — one that doesn’t line up with the law or with accepted medical practice.
The Reality of Trauma on the Job
This officer wasn’t filing a claim because he had a tough day. He had been carrying this for months. He wasn’t trying to get out of work. He was trying to stay at work and hold it together. And when he finally reached the point where he couldn’t, WCB told him he didn’t qualify.
Because apparently, if the trauma happens often enough, it doesn’t count anymore.
That kind of logic is incredibly damaging — and it’s not just happening in one case.
We’re seeing PTSD claims denied all the time on this exact basis.
- A paramedic who pulls dead kids out of car wrecks? Denied.
- A dispatcher who hears someone die on the other end of the line? Denied.
- An officer who reviews hours of child abuse footage in a criminal investigation? Denied.
All under the excuse that they weren’t personally threatened, or that the trauma was part of the role.
This is presumptive coverage in name only. And it’s eroding trust in a system that’s supposed to protect workers who protect the rest of us.
It’s Not Just a Policy Problem. It’s a Cultural One.
You can’t claim to support first responders while telling them their trauma doesn’t count. You can’t write legislation that says “we presume your PTSD is work-related,” and then build internal systems designed to override that presumption.
WCB keeps falling back on the same idea, that if a person wasn’t personally threatened or if the incident wasn’t “shocking enough,” the diagnosis doesn’t qualify. But that completely misses how trauma actually works. PTSD isn’t about one single terrifying moment. It’s about the accumulation of exposure, and the body’s reaction to that exposure over time.
It’s not soft. It’s not weakness. It’s a normal human reaction to a career full of abnormal experiences.
First responders are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the coverage the law already promises them.
So What Needs to Happen?
WCB needs to stop filtering claims through its internal PTSD checklist and start applying the presumptive legislation as written. If there’s a diagnosis, and if the worker is a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, or peace officer, the claim should be accepted — unless there is clear evidence that something else caused it.
That’s the standard. Not whether the event was cinematic enough. Not whether there was a weapon. Not whether the trauma has happened before.
Presumptive coverage was introduced because the old way wasn’t working. And right now, WCB is dragging the system back to that old way.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a first responder reading this, and you’ve been denied or are afraid to even file a claim, you’re not alone.
We see this all the time. We help people push back. And we don’t stop just because WCB says no the first time.
Presumptive coverage isn’t about giving people an easy out. It’s about giving them a fair chance. It’s about acknowledging that people who spend their careers walking into trauma are still human, and still deserving of support when that trauma catches up with them.
If that’s your situation, and you’re not getting the help you need, please reach out. We can help.