The push to have a world-first centre for veterans and first responders is gaining momentum in Tasmania with key stakeholders saying now is the perfect time to create the service.
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State and federal governments last week announced they were undertaking a feasibility study to assess the needs of veterans in Tasmania.
Some stakeholders are hoping the study will lead to a veteran wellbeing centre in Tasmania but others believe having a centre which caters for the needs of veterans and first responders would be better.
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Dr Peter Wirth, who works in emergency departments, is the brainchild behind PTSD Frontline which has the support of Keith Payne VC, Sir Peter Cosgrove, the Australian Medical Association, the Australasian College of General Practitioners, the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists, the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine and relevant unions.
He said the health outcomes for first responders are similar to those experienced by veterans who have returned from service.
"We are not in any way saying that the experience of a veteran coming back from active service is in any way in Iraq or Afghanistan is the same as being a firefighter or a police officer," Dr Wirth said.
"It is a different set of exposures but the end result can be very similar."
The centre would be based around the seven key pillars of health identified by the Australian Health and Wellbeing Institute and would include accommodation, education and training, financial planning, legal advice and access to health support services.
Police Association of Tasmania member and serving police officer Josh Hayes said having services in Tasmania would help more officers get the help they need.
"For the best treatment our members currently have to travel to Melbourne and as a result, they lose the support of their family and colleagues here in Tasmania," he said.
He said having a service in Tasmania would allow people to get early intervention.
"People would get that help at an earlier stage so it wouldn't progress to that acute stage... if the facility was here and we could access it earlier we would, probably in the long terms, have less people going to the final result of mental health," Mr Hayes said.
Health and Community Services Union delegate and registered paramedic Simone Hayes said sometimes the community doesn't understand how their work can impact first responders.
"It is not just the mental effects you also get the physical effects too," she said.
"PTSD is not just a mental condition it also affects you physiologically, you get high blood pressure, weight gain, you can get diabetes, you can get all sorts of things from it.
"It is sort of an all in effect for your whole body and your wellbeing."
Dr Wirth said centres like the one being proposed would offer a place for veterans and first responders to go when in crisis.
"To come into an emergency department waiting room which is crowded and busy - it is the worst possible place if you are a veteran with PTSD who finds stimulation very triggering," he said.
"Similarly if you are a police officer who is having a crisis you wouldn't want to come into a busy emergency department waiting room surrounded by people you may have met before."
United Fire Fighters Union representative Jeremy Patterson said having somewhere a firefighter could go to get treatment anonymously was extremely important.
The group is encouraging first responders and veterans to take part in the government's feasibility study.
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