Navigating work and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after trauma

Good day, everyone. I'm Chris Bombolas, your MC for today. On behalf of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, welcome to our second Mental Health Week live stream for 2023. Now, just as a warning, this is a very different presentation to the ones you may have joined us for previously and been part of, it's a deep dive into the very real impact of PTSD. I'd like to begin by respectfully acknowledging the traditional owners and custodians of the land we are speaking to you from today and on which you are learning and working from today. We also pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people watching today. Now, please note that this presentation includes content regarding post-traumatic stress disorder. We encourage you to draw on the self-care supports that work for you if this topic brings up anything for you and please reach out for support. The session will also be recorded. So if you need to take a break, you can catch up on the recording at a later stage. As I said, this presentation is intense. It will be graphic, raw, real, and absolutely frank and includes the actual emergency call that was made on the day. Now, in an emergency, please call OOO or visit your local hospital emergency department. You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For more information on support services available or information on supporting someone in distress, please visit www.qmhc.qld.gov.au/emergency-contacts. And we'll also put this in the chat box. So if you miss those details, you can catch them up throughout the presentation. Now Mental Health Week is held nationally every October to raise awareness of the importance of psychologically safe workplaces and contributes to driving behaviour and attitudinal change to reduce stigma and discrimination of mental illness. In today's session, our speaker will share his remarkable journey of surviving two gunshot wounds and dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder he experienced following that attack. He will discuss his road to recovery that included rediscovering passions for travel, skiing, hiking, and running. A little bit of housekeeping for you all. There'll also be an opportunity to ask Daryl questions at the end of his presentation. So be sure to submit them in the chat box. If you have any technical problems during the live stream, please make sure the sound on your computer is turned on, refresh your browser, and if that doesn't work, contact us via the live Q&A chat box. You can also change the size of your screen to full screen by selecting the four small arrows next to the volume bar at the bottom of your screen. It gives me great pleasure now to introduce Daryl Elliot Green. Daryl's love of helping others, adventure and fitness led him to join the Queensland Police at the ripe old age of 18. When Daryl was 27, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies and was awaiting promotion to senior constable. On the 1st of May, 2000, he was on night work and expecting a quiet Sunday night shift. However, that was not the case. Daryl was to confront every police officer's worst nightmare. Please be aware, Daryl's story contains audio with graphic language and post-operative reconstructive surgery photographs. As I mentioned earlier, his story is raw and very real. Thanks, Daryl. It's the 30th of April, 2000, a Sunday afternoon, and I'm where every true blue Aussie loves to be in the Queensland sunshine socialising with mates. A friend, Graham, he comes on over. "Hey, Greeny, great afternoon, mate. Why don't you stay out? Take a sickie." I think to myself, "Oh, love to party on. Could I get away with it?" Say I had a dodgy kebab and had an upstate stomach. I think further. My Sergeant Chris, my partner, Sharnell, they'll be there tonight. I make my decision. "Graham, I love to party on, but there's no way I can let my mates down." I'm a police officer and I'm on night work. I go to work. It's 3am in the morning and a job comes over the police radio network. And I take out my notebook. And I record these job details right here. Can you read that? Of course you can’t. I have a doctor's handwriting. I know. I joined the wrong profession. This says we are to attend 16 Hambury Street, Chermside West. In relation to words spoken six hours earlier. Those words were, "Threats to kill." Caused by a fallout over a $20 football bet. We speak to two males and then we move back to Sergeant Chris Mulhall's patrol vehicle. Chris is in the driver's seat and he's using a mobile telephone to do background checks on the suspect. Sharnell is seated in the front passenger seat and she's using the police radio to do background checks on the two males who've called us. I open the rear passenger door, sit down and slide across so I can hear the information which is coming in. And we're only going to be here a few moments so I will leave this door open. It's dark, it's still and so quiet you can hear a pin drop. All of a sudden from outside the vehicle I hear this pat, pat, pat sound. I wonder what can that be? The only thing that makes sense is it must be some neighbourhood dog that's running up to the patrol car. I nonchalantly turn and look. Standing there is a man. Pointed less than one metre from my head is a .22 calibre rifle. Bang and a shot in the face, bang and a shot in the arm. My hands are around my mouth, there's blood, there's teeth, there's bones. I try to open the door here. The child locks her on, I cannot get out. I sit up, Chris's seat is empty, his door is wide open. Sharnell is splattered with blood. She looks completely emotionless. I scream, get help. I draw my firearm and I go out to the door that I got shot through. What is this moment like when Chris, Sharnell and I are ambushed and all shot multiple times? Why don't I take you there? When the shooting starts, Chris drops the mobile phone out the window of the patrol car and it lands on the roadway and the telephone line remains open to police communications and they record the audio. I'm going to play for you a small segment of that audio and I use colourful language here that I normally do not use in polite company. Do you want yourself with Winston Noble? [Silence] This is what I call a bad day at the office. But I don't have time to think how bad the day is. My adrenaline is rushing. I'm in fight mode. I want to find and confront the gunman. But I quickly realise, where's Chris? I know where Sharnell is, but I don't know her condition. Do I search for Chris or attend to Sharnell? No easy decision. But I need to make a decision. So I make it a brave one. My firearm out, I walk down the street yelling, "Chris! Chris! Chris!" I see movement to my left. It's a figure in white. A lady in a nightgown. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" "There's a gunman in the street! Get back in the house!" This is not what you would call one of my finest client service interactions. I see movement on the other side of the street. It's a dark silhouette of a human figure. I point my firearm. The lady, "Don't shoot! That's my husband!" Consider this. I'm looking to find and confront the gunman. If this lady wants to take advantage of the situation to bump a husband with, perfect opportunity. She must have still loved him. Well, just enough. I give this man the same direction. I cannot find Chris. I cannot locate the gunman. So I turn around and I start walking down the street back to the patrol car. And what do I find? Sharnell is still seated in the front passenger seat. "Greeny, I'm hurt! Greeny, I'm hurt!" "I'm out here doing all the hard work and my partner is having a good old winch." No. What does this truly mean to me? I've made the long walk back down the street to the patrol car and I found my partner alive.I rest on the bottom of the patrol car with my right forearm holding my firearm in that hand. With my left hand I hold my mouth and I try and staunch the flow of blood. I look through the windshield at Sharnell. "Shah! It'll be all right! It'll be all right!".  Years later, Chanel confides in me. At this point in time, she's thinking, "Greeny, we don't know where the gunman is. We can't locate our sergeant. And you're pouring blood from your mouth all over the bottom of the patrol car.You are not very reassuring!". Sharnell is right. We are dire straits, but words of encouragement is all I have. I stand guard over Chanel. The situation. The two men who called us are sheltering in the house. Chris, with two bullets in him, makes his way to a house with a lot on, gains entry and calls for backup. The first backup arrives. A single officer. A very brave man. Senior constable, Brett Price. In fact, he's a bit of a naughty boy. He doesn't follow procedure. He doesn't stop his patrol car, go to the boot of the vehicle, open it, put on a ballistic plate, sorry, a ballistic vest and then insert the ballistic plate. No. He wants to get to us as soon as possible and is expecting to find at least one dead officer. I meet Brett in the middle of the street and then we move over to the patrol car where Sharnell is. She's tried to exit the vehicle. She's so badly injured, though, she collapses on the ground where the gutter is. I get down on the ground, we form a small protective arch where we were ambushed from. The first ambulance arrives at the scene. I weigh them to Sharnell. Brett and I ensure she's the first one extracted from the scene. Will police arrive? Then the next ambulance turns up in Hamby Street and they park at the end of the street and they're talking to their communications at Queensland Ambulance asking for a corridor of safety. And this is just not possible to provide with the limited police resources, the darkness and the gunman on the loose. And eventually they are convinced the safest place to be rather at the end of the street, lit up like a Christmas tree, is up where the armed police are where we can provide some protection. They come over to me, pat me down for my injuries and then place me on a goonsie, place me into the back of the ambulance. We are then driven to the house where Chris has taken shelter. He comes down the house, he enters the back of the ambulance and he says, "Greeny, do you believe this?" And I say, "No." The next thing Chris says, "Wow, that's a big needle." I'd like to thank the Queensland Ambulance Service for the finest hit of drugs I've ever had in my life. I'm given a massive needle with some very strong drugs which takes away the intense pain that I'm feeling. A massive manhunt now commences. Brett sets up a forward command post and for three weeks Brisbane is on edge as we search for the gunman. There's no sign of him. Eventually a breakthrough. A combined police and SES search find the gunman's body in Bushland two kilometres away from where he was shot. The rifle he attacked us with he used to take his own life. My head wound is deemed to be the most serious so I'm the first one that's rushed to the operating theatre and surgeons take three hours to extract the bullet from my head. My father visited me in intensive care and he said to me later, "Son, I could hardly recognise you. You're headed swell to the size of a melon." This is me when I've come out of intensive care and transfer to a ward. I don't look too bad. You can see where the first bullets hit me in the face. I have a small nick. The second bullet they sliced into my arm and pulled that round out and I've had a tracheotomy to help me breathe. But what damage did that first bullet really do? This 3D animation shows the impact of that first round. The bullet smashes the maxilla bone, destroys five teeth, deflects down, ends my tongue and lodges in my throat. I have 20 months off work. This is me at home recuperating during that time. Some colleagues look at me. You can see I have a five o'clock shadow and you look closely at my mouth. What am I missing? A few teeth. Some colleagues looked at 20 months off work, a few missing teeth and make a snap decision. "Oh, Greeny, he's having it easy." I will show you what I was going through in that 20 months and you can make up your own mind if I'm having it easy or not. What is the impact on my mental health? Well, initially, I'm stunned in days. It's like winning gold lotto, but on the other end of the spectrum. You mean to say that I had a rifle pointed at my head, was shot in the face from less than a metre away and I'm alive here today with you to tell the tale? Pretty incredible. I learnt my body is not bulletproof. I'm about to learn that neither is my mind. I am, in fact, walking along the edge of a cliff. Walking along the edge of the cliff, it gets to a point. I get nudged and I go into a downward spiral for my mental health.Seven weeks after Chris, Sharnell and I are shot, Senior Consul Norm Watt of the Rockhampton Dog Squad attends a domestic violence incident. Norm was shot once in the leg and the bullet severs his femoral artery. How long do you have to live if the blood flow from this type of wound is not stopped? Approximately four minutes. Help does not arrive in time for Norm. He bleeds out. Chris, Sharnell and I, we are all shot multiple times and live. Paul Norm is shot once and dies. I suffer survivor guilt. My subconscious starts to question my mortality and this triggers in me the full fury of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. I try to do the simple things like I did before I shot. I go to a night venue with friends, sit in the corner and enjoy a quiet drink. All of a sudden, my heart races, my pupils dilate, I'm extremely agitated, I have an overwhelming feeling, I've got to get out of here. I've got to get out of here. What the hell is going on? Later, I learn through professional help, the flashing lights at the night venue causes my subconscious to recall the rotating red and blue police lights from the night of the shooting. This trigger is dangerous for my subconscious. My body goes into survivor mode and I have to leave the venue to calm down and recover. I think I'm going crazy. There's something wrong with me. So I tell no one. But then I recall another officer that I'd worked with, Brad Britton, a few months before I was injured. I'm on patrol with Brad and I turn to him and say, Brad, that procedure that you were involved in and when the car did the U-turn and drove at you and had to use your firearm, mate, what's going on with that? “Oh, greenie, mate, the internal investigation, it's ongoing.” It's like they're trying to say that I am lawfully discharged, my firearm endangered in the public. I'm stressed. I'm angry. I'm taken out in the family. Look, mate, things have got so bad. I'm seeing a psych. I am very grateful to this officer for being so open with me about seeking help for his mental health. Because this gives me the courage to do the same thing. Reach out for help. What happens next? I will tell you later. Let's wind the clock back first to an incident which occurred over 50 years earlier. It's 1962 and the Australian government starts providing an all expenses paid to of a small Southeast Asian nation. Vietnam. Australians go to war. Chris Manklay joins the Australian Army in 1963, age 17. He's an infantryman and he's deployed to Vietnam. He's into the fifth month of his tour and he's on patrol, walking point for his entire platoon. He's moving through the jungle and strung out in front of him is a thin wire attached to that wire is a grenade in a tin can. As Chris is moved forward, his rifle pushes up against that wire and the grenades pulled out and drops to the ground. Kaboom! An explosion occurs that tears a chunk of flesh the size of two fists out of Chris's right calf. His right leg is broken and his lower back is showered with shrapnel. A helicopter descends, he's medevacked to a casually clearing station. He's then eventually flown to Malaysia to an Australian military hospital for further surgery. When he wakes from that surgery, the doctor says, "Chris, your leg wound. If it does not heal, I'm afraid we're going to have to amputate it." Fortunately, the Australian medical staff are able to save Chris's leg and he returns to Australia and he soldiers on and various training units for another three years. But it gets to the point that he's had enough and he burns all his uniforms, photos and documents from his time in the Army so he can leave the horror of the Vietnam War behind him. The only thing he cannot leave behind him is his mental health problems. Things get so bad he becomes dangerously suicidal. But he seeks help and in time he wants to help others. Let's return to the year 2000. A Maxio facial surgeon and a team of specialists commences reconstructing my shattered mouth. I'm going to step you through the 20 month road of long, complex operations. Please observe the timeline at the base of the screen.  The surgeon says to me, "Daryl, this is the best job we can possibly hope for. But for the rest of your life, every three months you need to visit a prosthodontist to have that prosthetic taken out and cleaned.” This is me coming home from the first surgical procedure. A bone graft. I'm in physically and emotionally distressed. The reconstruction is so intrusive, it is in fact a second trauma. And I'm also suffering in another way. PTSD manifests itself with dreams, anger, flashbacks, anxiety, insomnia, depression, hyper-al and sexual dysfunction. My mental health is shattered. I am then introduced to a Queensland police psychologist, the Vietnam veteran. Chris Mantello. Chris draws on his personal experience of walking in the walk of extreme trauma and professional knowledge to help me understand that my psychological reaction to the shoot is the most important. And I think, "Wow, I'm not crazy. There is hope, but still the side of a police vehicle, it makes me shudder and turn away." Chris suggests something, desensitization treatment, confronting. But because of the trust he continually builds, I agree. I sit in his recliner chair. He asks me to close my eyes and describe the events of the night of the shooting. I talk about receiving a job attending a house, speaking to the two males. And when I get to the point of describing the bullet, smashing into my face, the memory is so raw, I jolt up out of the chair, I open my eyes and gasp for breath. Over a course of months, Chris takes me through the desensitization process six times, at the end of which I can talk about the shooting step by step without any adverse reactions, thanks to the wisdom from a decorated Vietnam veteran who becomes a psychologist, Chris Mantello. This has christened me when he and his wife saw me speak in Melbourne in 2017. There are times in our life we all need a helping hand. To continue to turn up for reconstruction soon, time after time, I'm not able to do it on my own. But fortunately, I have two people in my corner helping me be resilient. Guess who they are? Mum and Dad. And my father Alan, he's doing what he's always done, supporting me by being here today. Go on Dad. Love you more. This is what I call a good day. It's 2001, I'm still missing teeth and surgery is continuing. This day I'm with my two greatest supporters, Mum and Dad. Mum, who I call the best little girl in the world, sadly passed away on the 16th of August 2016, leaving a huge hole in my life and especially for my father Alan after 53 years of marriage. This day is a very emotional day, but never underestimate the simple power of being by someone's side. On this day they are supporting me when I received the Queensland Police Service's highest accolade for bravery. The Valor Award. As you all know from your own life experience supporting people, it's not always a piece of cake. Here's an example of what supporting me after the shooting brought to my Mum and Dad. You recall I had a gum graft procedure. The surgeon takes a scalpel and slices out a 20 size sense of piece of skin from the roof of my mouth. That's transplanted over the bone graft to form my new gum. When I wake from surgery the doctor says, "Daryl, the wound in the roof of your mouth, I cannot stop it from bleeding. Do not worry. Go home and use the scars in your mouth to soak up the blood. Mum and Dad take me home." I'm in intense pain even though I'm on strong painkillers and I can't sleep. So I take a heavy dose of sleeping tablets and I knock myself out. And during the night the wound bleeds and the gauze soaks up the blood. The wound continues to bleed and the gauze becomes saturated. My father wakes in the morning. He's walking down the hall and he sees me in my bedroom at the corner of his eye. He turns and looks and he sees that the white T-shirt I'm wearing is covered half in blood from my neck to my stomach. He thinks I've bled out. He rushes over to me and shakes me and he wakes me much to his relief. Mum and Dad have to help me from the bedroom to the bathroom get the shirt off me and help clean off the blood that's congealed on my chest. This is just one example of what the shooting brought to my two greatest supporters who was helping my resilience and there was a lot more to come. It's 2002. The reconstruction is complete. My treatment for PTSD is continuing. Decision time. Can I put this back on and return to policing? I'm very afraid psychologically I cannot return to the type of policing I've been doing. General duties. Tending domestic pub brawls and chasing thieves. I weigh my options. I look at finding an area in the police where I can utilise other skills. The photograph in hospital with Mum and Dad you could not see what was on my lap but in this photograph you can. It's a computer magazine. I love my IT.  Where can I use these skills? Right here. Task Force Argos. The Queensland Police Team that investigates internet paedophilia. It's 2002. It's the second anniversary of the shooting and all of us involve gather here at the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel for a steak and a cold beer and to celebrate being alive. The next day I turn up to work. This is actually the day, two days after the shooting because after the anniversary of drinks I make a phone call the very next day I can't come in. So the next day I turn up to work, I'm in the office and my sergeant walks up to me. You had the anniversary drink screening. Look there's no better reason for getting on the piss for what you guys went through but you should have changed the shift the following day from a day shift to an afternoon shift so you're fit to come to work. What is my supervisor assuming? That I was too hungover from the anniversary drinks to come to work. But this isn't the case whatsoever. I was so disturbed from the memories, emotions and discussion brought up on this day at the anniversary drinks. When I go home that night it's like there's an electric storm pulsating through my head and I can't sleep so I take a heavy dose of sleeping tablets and I knock myself out. The next day I'm simply too comatose to drive to work let alone be on duty and in charge of a firearm. My supervisor didn't have the emotional challenges just to ask me, "Hey Greenie, how'd your anniversary drinks go?" This one conversation I say to myself, "There's no way that I can tell him what's truly going on inside of me." And it wrecks a barrier between me and my supervisor. It's 2003. I'm working at Tarsos Arcos. Workcover, who's paying all my medical expenses, sends me to another surgeon for an inspection. Dr John Arvia. His role is to inspect the reconstruction and write a report for WorkCover on success. In my lunch hour I pop down from police headquarters to his rooms in Queen Street for a five minute consultation. He pokes around my mouth with his instruments. Daryl, sit up, come into my office. Take a seat. Daryl, you were just sat in my chair. What you have in your mouth I could not clean with my instruments. There's no way that you can clean it. You're at risk of septicemia, blood-borne disease. It's very dangerous. I'm sorry, but your reconstruction has failed. And worse yet, he has no idea how he can correct my shattered mouth. This is what I call a bad day at the dentist. You recall during the first reconstruction I had to plate my mouth to support the bone graft. After Dr Arvia delivers his shocking news, I fall into depression because I have this on my mind.This is me at home in 2000 after the bone graft with the plate in my mouth. The photograph is taken just after dinner. I've had a bowl of food. Most of us eat with one of these, a fork. Some of us are a little bit cleverer and can use chopsticks. But for one month with the plate in my mouth supporting the bone graft, I can't eat solid food. I'm taking in all my nourishment through a straw. And let me just tell you, using this as an eating instrument day in, day out absolutely sucks. With further surgery ahead, do you think my mind is fully focused on work? No. My mind is transfixed on what's to come. Searing pain, mumbling to be understood and once again, sucking my food through a straw. What happens next? Motivation criticism from my colleagues. What's up with greenie? It's just a few dental procedures. We all have to go to the dentist. True. We all have to go to the dentist. And doesn't everyone's mouth look like this? I work with some very talented people, but that talent does not extend to x-ray vision. I finish work one evening. I go to police headquarters. It's 10pm and I have the place to myself. But I don't have the energy to exercise. I'm emotionally exhausted, which leaves me physically exhausted. I sit on a piece of gym equipment. My head slumps into my hands. I'm isolated. I'm alone. And no one understands. Next, I make some monumental decisions. I have no police career. I'm washed up. But I have no skills to offer the outside world. What am I going to do? I know. I'm going to enroll into a master's degree program to get some skills to go into a career outside the police. In the meantime, I'm going to enroll in a master's degree program. Sorry, I'm going to enroll in a master's degree program. And I'm going to look at finding a desk job in the police. And this will be conducive to stately. Finally, on my third application, I'm successful at attaining a sergeant's position at the academy. But before I can take up that position at the academy, it's time for surgery. Dr John Aver and a team of specialists attempt a second reconstruction of my mouth.  I've just woken from surgery. When I go through, I'm disturbed by. You see, I get a little bit frustrated when I'm laid up in bed for four days with a cold. But what is the second attempt to reconstruct my mouth down? It has turned my life back four years back to excruciating, painful operations, dreams, depression, anger, anxiety, the full theory of PTSD. This is me after the first procedure in 2003. The next photograph I'm going to show you is when I've come home from another procedure in 2005. Five years on from the shooting, I look worse the second time around. When the swelling reduces, I call on one of my core coping strategies. Exercise. And this is for me is running. I'm speeding along a path and I have vivid flashbacks, my blood all over the bonnet of the police vehicle. One day out running, it gets so bad, I have a very dark thought. Of course, I'm running across a bridge. I stop, I put both hands on the railing, I look over. Life is just a struggle. I can jump and it will all be over. But being a police officer, I've seen firsthand the effects of suicide on family and friends. No, I cannot do this to mum and dad. I stand, I turn, I continue running. I can see no light at the end of the tunnel. My decision to live, it's solely for the sake of my parents. After four long months recovering from the first procedure with ongoing surgery, I take up my position at the police academy. It's early 2004. It will in fact be seven years after the shooting after 17 major surgical procedures when the final orthodontic whip is carried out in 2007 and the reconstruction is deemed a success. However, before taking up my position at the academy, I make a decision due to my treatment by some uninformed colleagues and managers, their comments, their judgments, their decisions. I erect a wall between myself and the outside world. I'm not letting anybody know what's truly going on inside with me. Mark Harvey, who I did not know when I took up my position in the academy but later become a friend, describes me at this point I'm saying, "Greeny, you showed no emotions, you spoke and monitored and you only engaged on the surface. Mate, you were a ghost." Two years go by and I experience change. It's 2006. This changes. I have a new boss and should we say this is him on one of his better days. He's a gorilla of a man, 6 foot 1 and 100 plus kilos. I remember the very first day I laid eyes on him. I'm walking past his office. His door is closed. He's intensely looking at a piece of paper and we are separated by a pain in our eyes. He looks up, our eyes lock and I think to myself, "I've had some insensitive treatment from management before. What the hell am I in for with this gorilla of a boss?" This is an example of his style. Paul Trindler and I work together as young constable at Brisbane City Watch House. He's now a recruit instructor and he says to his boss, "I know, Daryl. I wonder if he's got any value to offer by speaking to my recruits about the shooting." He's a boss. "Don't speak to Daryl. Go see his manager." "My manager? You want to speak to Daryl about the shooting? We don't speak about the shooting. It's kind to boo. What are we going to do?" "I know. Let's go ask the inspector, the gorilla." Now the gorilla is a very busy man. He only turns around and he only has time for one sentence. He says, "Why don't we ask Daryl?" "Why don't we ask Daryl if he wishes to speak to Paul's recruits on the shooting? Let's empower the man." It turns out, this gorilla of a boss, Inspector David Andrew Stevenson, has the finest inner personal skills unlike anyone I've ever met. I agree and to speak to Paul's recruits.  What does this time-poor boss do next? He shows one of the finest leadership colleagues by his actions speaking louder than his words. It's a few days before I'm due to speak to Paul's recruits. I'm walking along a path at the academy, barreling along in the opposite direction. It's Dave Simmsen. "Hey, Greenie. I hear you're going to speak to Paul's recruits on the shooting. Why don't I come along? Sit in and listen? Mine help me be a better boss for you." "Ah, sure, Dave. More than welcome.” I speak to the recruits and at the end it's just Dave and I. And we start walking back to the section of the academy where we both work. What is it about to take place is one of the most life-changing, courageous conversations I've ever been a part of. "Greenie, as you audio the shooting play, I didn't look at the tape player like the recruits. I looked at you. Do you mind telling me what you were thinking?". "Oh, Dave. It's raw. It's hard. It takes me right back there. But I think it's valuable for the recruits to hear it so they understand the gravity of the situation." "I see. And how are you going in life?" "Oh, Dave. My life? Well, Dave, my life, it's a two-hour commute, each work day from home to the academy and back, studying on the weekends." "There's not much... Dave, there's not much joy in my life." On this day, Dave Stevenson starts a long process of building trust with me. And over the course of time, he's going to build more and more trust and this is going to enable him to positively influence my decisions. I didn't know at the time, but this is going to pay a profound part to my place in the workforce. In 2003, I committed myself to five years part-time study in full-time work. Finally, it's 2008 and I've accomplished the greatest intellectual feat of my life. I'm ready for a new career outside the police because I have an amazing new set of skills. I've earned a master's degree in finance. How do I feel? What's going on in 2008? Who remembers this? The global financial crisis, the GFC. There are no new jobs in the finance sector laying off people left, right and centre. It's like I've saved for five years. I've paid off my taxi licence. I'm ready to start my own taxi business and along comes Uber. I've fallen to a slump. One of Dave Stevenson's simple support of leadership strategies. Each day, he tried to talk to members of his staff about something that's not work-related. Mike Wallace is a multi-metre developer. He's English and a mad Crystal Palace football supporter. After the weekend, on the Monday, Dave had come over. “Hey Mike, how did Tim go on the weekend?" And Mike had launched into how the latest game played out. But Dave's, as Dave's listening, is also gauging how Mike's going at home, at work and in life generally. And there's days he speaks to me and I don't say much. But because of Dave's keen emotional intelligence, he said something's just not quite right. "Hey Greeny, I'm going out to the Oval for a smoke for your mind-keeping company." We go out here to the Police Academy Oval. Dave has a puff and what's bothering me I can share with him and receive some wise advice. And on this day I shared him what the GFC had done to my future plans. And he said something to me and it plans a C, but with that C something else comes to the forefront, a fear. This is my police service firemaker lock. I'm highly protective of my safety. After the shooting I'm definitely dealing with confrontation, especially violent confrontation and anything to do with firearms. To act on that C of Dave's plans, I need to make a brave decision. I need to do something about this fear. I need to try to overcome it. How will I attempt to do this? I'm going to apply to become a firearms instructor. But Dave Stevens is my inspector. He can knock the application on its head, fearing that if Greeny reacts adversely to that course it could reflect poorly on me. But because of Dave's supportive leadership style, the trusty bills, the courageous conversation, he makes a brave decision and he backs my application. I'm placed on the firearms instructor's course. It's an intense two weeks course. I have extra difficulties with PTCs. I have dreams. I have flashbacks. I have overreactions. By a call on coping strategies I've learned the hard way, the power of visualization, openly talking to my trusted supporters and drawing on running to help manage my stress. But not everything's a fairy tale. How does it all end? Triumph.I qualify as a police firearms instructor and manage the fear. Next, a challenging opportunity presents itself. It's late 2008 and the Academy staff are asked to volunteer for two weeks over the Christmas New Year's period for policing duties on the front line. The idea is to attend any jobs and to reduce the rotary. I step up, volunteering. I'm partnered with Sargent Kim Nisbet. One night we have a traffic stop on Gimpy Road, Chermside. It's 10pm. It's dark. It's still. It's quiet. We are a five minute drive from Hamby Street where I was shot nine years earlier. Kim's issuing a traffic infringement notice. The driver gets out. Speaks to Kim, I stand back to maintain operational safety.It has the same ambience of the night of the shooting. But I only think that this the very next day when I'm having a shower I think, wow, how far have I come? Not only to remain in the police but to challenge and overcome my fears. Once flicking lights at a night venue we'd be on a panic attack. Now back to operational policing in uniform. A similar ambience to the night of the shooting brings on no adverse reactions whatsoever. Thanks too. Asking for help to bolster my resilience, courageous conversations and the supportive leadership of Dave Stevenson. I'd like to share with you a classic example of Dave Stevenson's support style. It's 2007. Chris Lawrence is an officer who works in our unit and on the weekend he's kicking a football around. Does his Achilles tendon. He's all for a couple of months. Dave drives over to check on him and then turns to his wife at the family home. Janine says, oh I can see Chris is being well looked after. How are you going? Oh Dave I managed and Chris and had two girls at school but I just can't get to the yard. And Dave says, oh do you mind if I organise a small working bee to help out? Sure. Dave comes back to our office, tells us the situation, then one afternoon we all finish work, change our clothes and we drive over to Chris's Janine's. In a couple of hours we whip the yard into shape. And Chris and Janine are very grateful and feel supported. But Dave also implicitly imparts something to our work unit. He is a supportive leader and we are a caring working unit and this does amazing things for our morale. And when Dave needs us, he knows he has our back so when he needs us we give him 120%. But nothing lasts forever. It's May 2009 and Dave Stevenson is seconded to the Australian Federal Police. But before he goes, he leaves something here in my pigeonhole. It is this envelope. Inside is a letter on Dave's personal station. Greenie, you're an exceptional person who I've learnt so much from. I know these will come in handy for you soon. Thank you for everything. Your friend, Dave. I wonder what can be inside. It's a set of senior sergeant's epaulettes. The CEDATE planning on the over when I confided about the GFC done to my future plans. He said to me, Greenie, you may not realise it but you make a great senior sergeant and you're ready for promotion. But course Dave built trust, I accepted his influence and this drove my decision to refocus my future on policing. What do you know? The big fella was right. In 2010 I needed these. I was promoted to senior sergeant. I served a further 20 years in the police after the shooting and this is thanks to in no small way this man and his supportive leadership style. Dave Stevenson passed away from a heart attack at work on the 7th of May 2013. A day after his passing, a young senior constable, Sandra Chenbile, fatuously happened to be at my workplace. She walks past my office, doubles back, rushes in and says, you won't remember me but I heard you at one of your presentations when you talked about Dave Stevenson and how he helped you.Well, I hadn't worked for the man before but I've since worked for him at Metro South. He was everything you see he was. He cared. Sandra, Shedded here. I was still in shock and we hugged. I had the honour of being a pallbearer at Dave's funeral. My father, Alan and I, we wish Dave's caring way will continue in the world by sharing his story and help mould leaders to follow in this great man's footsteps. I simply wouldn't be here today without a leader like this who came into my life just at the right time. I have a question for you. How did I happen to be here today? Well, when I first started to speak to police recruits on the shooting, I drew a diagram on the whiteboard, I played the audio of the shooting and I had four lessons. After one of the talks, a recruit came up to me and said, oh, do you have any photographs? It might just help bring it alive. We're the police and this is a suicide and attempted murder. We record photographs and document everything. Of course I have material to show. So I put together a PowerPoint. And this is one of my slides. How much training do we normally receive in PowerPoint? Normally, zero. This is a fundamental error in speaking. You cannot listen to me and read this.  One afternoon, it's a Friday, I only have a barbecue and friends come over. I just presented to recruits and one of my mates, Joel Palmer, was interested in what I was doing. And I showed him a bit of my presentation and he didn't say anything but he thought to himself, hmm, room for improvement. It's 2014.Noel was a very successful businessman with his own financial services company he built from the ground up. He was married to a lovely Thai girl, Yui, and they decided to buy another business, a Thai restaurant. And they built a bar onto the restaurant. And when it's completed, to celebrate the opening of the tuk tuk bar, they have a special function for family and friends. I'm standing at the front of the bar. I'm sipping on a watermelon mojito. Joel does something very specific this day. It comes on over. Hey, Greeny, good to see you, mate. I'd like to introduce you to somebody. Mike, this is Greeny. He has a very interesting story. I'm introduced to Michael Alafachi. I tell him a bit about my background. Wow, that's a pretty amazing story. Turns out he's an executive performance coach. One of his core skills is teaching people public speaking. Mike later confides with me his very next thought is, wow, Greeny, you got a lot to offer the world by speaking, but I know you can't afford my fees. Just look at the man. He's an Italian descent. He even looks expensive. But he makes a selfless decision. He decides to volunteer his time, take me under his wing and starts coaching me in speaking. And through Mike, I learn about a special scholarship offered by the peak body representing professional speakers in Australia. And Mike suggests that I should go for this opportunity. But I soon learned professionals making a living are applying for this. And I think, oh, I'm just a shot of copper. What Mike's suggesting, it's just unobtainable. Look at the competition. I don't stand a chance. I fall into a slump and I sit here in my shower, hot water pouring over me, feeling sorry for myself. But I remember once before a leader saw something in me that I did not see myself. And I think, well, Mike thinks I can do it. What am I doing sitting here? Feeling sorry for ourselves? It will give us nowhere. Action with. I get busy living. I pull myself up and out of the shower. It's two weeks to the course application closing day. I dedicate all my free time to the application. I leave no stone untuned so I can put my best foot forward. And I must submit a mandatory video of me speaking in public and I have one. My competitors with the highly polished, professionally edited videos, I know I don't stand much of a chance. But each and every one of us, we only get one shot at life. I submit this application. And my one and only video. And to be eligible for this opportunity, you must be present at a gala event when they make the announcement.My mum and dad come to my apartment, drive me to Brisbane Airport and they see me fly out. So now 2015's gala specializes in leadership and resilience. It was proven commitment to community includes more than two decades of the Queensland Police and the reward for valor for his actions in protecting a fellow of the same despite being seriously worth it himself. Please help him congratulate Daryl Elliott Green. When they mention the Queensland Police, I look around. No other coppers here from Queensland, it must be me. I accept the award, I make a short speech and then the eggs at the stage. And you have no need to guess who I'm immediately on the phone to here. Mum and Dad. When I fly back to Brisbane, you know who comes to pick me up.Mum and Dad. I exit the terminal. I spy Mum and Dad's car in the pickup queue, but they don't see me. So I creep up on their car and I jump out in the front of the bonnet of their car and I shake the scholarship plaque. Once again, I'm standing in the front of the bonnet of a vehicle, but this time it's very different. Because I am bringing to my 80 year old mum and 83 year old dad who'd be with me every step of the journey. He's just pouring me through it, he's just pouring me through it all, seemed hopeless. He helped me through all the trauma and just showed me what unconditional love is. "Come on up Dad." Show the plaque. Love you Bloch. After 15 years, horrendous horrible and terrible pain, I was bringing something good directly stemming from the shooting to my parents. Love you Bloch. PTSD has played a large part in my history since that fateful night all those years ago on the 1st of May 2000. But the academy, I was taught nothing about PTSD. What we did have was case studies and one of the case studies was actually a video and it showed how mortally wounded offenders had the ability to carry on the fight and kill police. PTSD was in fact not only taboo, I'd say it had a stigma that "Oh, you're after a payout." Most people have learned about PTSD by a different name. Shellshock coined during the First World War. After I was shot, I was given this book called Shellshock put out by the BBC. And I learned from this, the first recordings of PTSD is by Greek poets who recorded their soldiers at sleep, their dreams, their nightmares and their screams from relieving their battles. Ancient Greeks called PTSD Divine Madness. In 1878, a Swiss military physician called it nostalgia. German doctors, they had another name, home vice or homesickness. Spanish physicians, esterota or to be broken. French doctors, Malie du Pé, disease of the country. In the American Civil War, it had another name, soldiers heart or irritable. In 1905, the Russians coined the term boy of a shock or battle shock. Then World War I, it's shell shock. World War II, combat stretch ration. And in the Korean War, another name emerged, Puerto Rican syndrome. I met a psychiatrist, Professor Sandy McFarlane at a PTSD conference. And he explained to me, and to paraphrase him, he said, the history of PTSD is that we have a major conflict, we learn a lot about PTSD and what helps, but then the war ends and PTSD is soon forgotten. Until the next major conflict, and we have to learn the same things all over again. But in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, research involving Vietnam veterans, Holocaust survivors, other trauma sufferers, police officers who had to kill suspects or had been shot in the line of duty, and women who had been attacked, sexually assaulted or beaten. From that research, finally, in 1980, PTSD appeared in the American Psychiatric Association's Manual of Mental Disorders. We have come a long way from World War II, where General George S. Patton slapped two soldiers in Sicily who were suffering PTSD when he called them cowards. Such was his ignorance. Thanks largely to the trauma experience of Vietnam veterans who fought in that horrific conflict, PTSD is now officially recognised as a medical condition. And much more help is available.What can help PTSD? From my personal experience, these are the five top things that I've learned.It's like, simple, ask for help, be it a GP, a psychologist or a psychologist, and follow their advice. Support, openly communicate with those close to us our feelings to foster support. Our family, our partner, our friends, we are not on our island, we need their support. They can't do that if they don't know what's going on. Connect, talk to others with a similar experience. So, you know, we are not alone. Especially those who have experienced PTSD through a similar event. When I become a firearms instructor, I was on the course when an officer had to fatally shoot and kill somebody. And when we spent time alone, we started talking about our reactions after the shootings. And one of the things I'd been embarrassed for a long time and hadn't spoken about, except with the psychiatrist, that after the shooting, people think, oh, you're on antidepressants, you did, L B goes down. No, my libido flew through the roof. And this other officer said the same thing after you had to fatally shoot and kill somebody, his libido went through the roof. And the psychiatrist explained to me what that happens is that biologically your body's saying to you, you only have a short time to live and you need to reach out. And that was a professional saying that, but speaking to a fellow survivor was so helpful. That's why I've really tried to emphasise that point. Four, help yourself. Only we can do the hard work. We can have an amazing support network, but it's us. We are the ones who've got to do the exercise, the healthy evening and taking medication as it is prescribed. And number five, stay positive. We all have bad days. I still have bad days. Reflect, learn and set yourself up for a better day. The following next day. Maintaining a positive outlook is essential. I've less. This is my last point. Of course, there is so much negativity in the world and we can have such negative days. And this can really lead to a downward spiral. I've seen this happen to friends who've suffered PTSD and they've ended up in hospital and in some other cases it's been much worse. So negativity never helped anyone. Think, speak and act positively. You know, you're having a bad day.But by doing those actions, that will lead to a brighter, shining future because it's truly amazing. Not only what we can overcome, manage to live with PTSD, but what we can achieve.Thanks to what I've shared with you today, the support of so many people I've mentioned and many, many others. In 2019, I was able to bring to my father, professional speakers, Australia's breakthrough speaker of the year award.I love you, Dad. Thank you for your years of unwavering support.I hope from what I've shared today, you're able to see PTSD is real, a very serious mental health condition and affects all aspects of our lives at home and at work. Living with PTSD is a challenging trail, but life after all is a journey. And with smart choices, support, hard work, great leaders and loved ones, we can all go on and live rich, fulfilling lives. Well, thank you, Daryl. I did mention to everyone that it would be real and raw, and we certainly got that.And some of the points that you made were really struck home about the support along the way,particularly personal and professional support that you've enjoyed and that you continue to enjoy. I just want to remind the people viewing that the Q&A session is available. If you do have a question for Daryl, please go to the Q&A chat box and put those questions in. We'll get to as many as we can. If I could just ask you just how important along the way was the support of family, friends, your loved ones, and then ultimately, from a professional sense, the supportive leadership that you had along the way. All of those sort of working together to help you through some dark times and some hard times. I think my father sums it up best. He and my mum used to wonder if they were doing enough. They would be worried about me taking my life because the journey was so difficult. So on both fronts, it was absolutely essential to have that, that people, my mum and dad weren't submissive. They were there for every operation, so they dropped everything.Things got so bad for my dad. He became depressed. At that time, there was no support for the family, but the psychiatrist I was seeing was very good. And so after seeing me, he would see my father for 15 minutes. My dad actually went on antidepressants. So that enabled dad to keep going to help keeping me supportive. Having friends who were not dismissive of what was going on, and I did have some of those, it was quite unbelievable. You're still going on with the shooting. It's like, the operations aren't even over. So it was quite amazing. So I stayed away from those negatively. And on the work ground, well, workplace is a huge part in everybody's life. And this was a workplace related injury. And so I experienced, again, both the negative and the boss when I was at Argos and I had the day off after the anniversary drinks. He wasn't a nasty individual. He was just actually ignorant and didn't just think, oh, it's two years since the shooting. That's incredibly fresh. That might have been brought up some memories. I'll just ask Darrell that. And if he had, I would have told him. How did it go? But fortunately, I met Dave Stevenson just at the right time with those incredible interpersonal skills who built trust. You need to build trust first. And the police psychologists and he was specifically selected. Somebody had the smarts to say, oh, he's somebody with a similar experience. And so because I was talking to a psychiatrist and he was telling me about my actions, it's normal. I've cancelled those people. But when I was talking to a professional who walked the walk that really hit home and convinced myself, well, I'm not crazy. I'm not a lesser human being. So I just feel actually I was incredibly lucky to have so much support on the home and work front. Fantastic. Questions now. This one from Sarah. She says you've appeared on multiple podcasts, presentations, et cetera. How do you ensure you don't re-traumatise yourself, which is probably a follow up to what we've just been discussing, your family or friends who are in your corner, obviously. And what self-care supports do you actually use? It's pretty simple one, actually, because I went through desensitisation treatment with Chris Mankalo. And listening to that audio now has no effect on me whatsoever. I've seen the photograph so many times. I'm just waiting for that to be shown or that to be played. So I'm very fortunate that that treatment for PTC desensitisation worked well for me. And so, yeah, self-care for me today is exercise is a huge part. I run every day. Another one people don't think about is eating, healthy eating, you know, that really helps the chemicals in our body. I had a sleep routine, so it helped me get a good sleep routine. And I'm prepared for when things that do cause issues. It's moved on so long now that I have so much experience with it. I can say, oh, well, that's happened today. And it might be a car running over a pizza box. I jump out of my skin, hyper-arousal, and I can calm down much more quicker. And I just look at the example of a Vietnam veteran who counselled me. He's in his 70s. We're still in contact and he's loving life. He's living it with his wife and sees his grandchildren. And he says, I'm still on an antidepressants, but that helps me keep things in control. And so I've got somebody that I can look at as a model to say he's been through that and he's, you know, going well if I keep doing those smart things. Sarah, thank you for your question. Marty now asks, how might an employer or colleague recognise the PTSD signs in someone and hints for co-workers to assist, to be positive with a colleague that is suffering from PTSD? A lot of people are very private about it because it still has a stigma. So the first thing is to build trust. And so it's that small talk doing things like that. And especially outside, you know, the workplace. As a peer support officer, you know, I'd speak to officers, I'd take them outside the workplace. And then they might open up to you if they're having a bit of a bad day. If they're having a bit of a bad day, things don't seem right at work. Go for a coffee, go for a meal. And if you've got that level of trust, you could say to them, you know, I saw something on the news that was similar to your experience. And just be honest, I was just a bit worried about you, you know, how, you know, and I don't like to say, I prefer to say, how are you going? And then they might give a little bit. Even though you might feel it's a bit prickly making that initial approach. Yep. You know, people like straight, you know, straight talk and generally saying this person's generally caring about me. You do it in a private environment. So you might then go down and have a coffee and, you know, just, I'd say you wouldn't want to do it out the blue. You just want to have a bit of a dismount. And part of the problem is you have some bosses, they'll only come see you when there is an issue. And then you might have a major incident at work and they want to come and support you. And it doesn't really work like that. So you need to build that trust, that friendship and that caring supportive relationship first makes those follow on conversations. Good sense. Jodi says, when you went through your isolation period, refusing to let people in, what effect did this have on your parents and what advice would you give to parents supporting children going through the same reaction, you know, like pushing others away or being a bit distant? It was hell on them. They were seeing their child, their loved one who's just suffering. And so, but they tried to make life as easy as possible for me, you know, driving me to the doctor and try to do things to get me outside. And one story my dad loves talking 2003, I just finished work because I'm about to face the first round of reconstruction surgery. And my mum heard great things about a movie. And she wanted to go see it with dad and wanted to get me out of the house. And I did not want to leave, but they kept at me and convinced me to get out the house and go see that movie. And it was a true story and I'm a big fan of true stories. And it was Seabiscuit, the American racehorse. And I come out the Dawn Theatre on Gimpy Road. It's in the evening and dad and I was only talking about this the other day and I'm walking down and he's sniffling. He turns around and sees me with tears down. I said, what's wrong, son? And I said, look, I just feel like that little horse that people thought was broken because they had no idea what I was going through at work. And they just thought it was a few dental procedures. So for those parents, just gently keep at them and encourage them to do those things that are healthy and eventually don't give up. And give them the time to take advantage to finally step out the house and go to the movie or go for a walk or do whatever. Let's have a look at Dave P. A bit of feedback, which is always nice. Fantastic presentation that he will share with his colleagues. So that's fantastic. And Laura asks, you talk about influential leaders and we've just discussed that too in our Q&A here, who supported you. When you think of those that were at a standout, what things did they have in common in terms of leadership traits and qualities, the ones that really had an impact on you? Well, I'll talk about another one that I wouldn't hear about today. So I was in a previous team at Boondall when I was shot and the sergeant was Kim Herbert. And he'd had a difficult police career and I often found it was people who had difficulties in their own lives, you know, that they were more compassionate. And so after the shooting, he called into my parents while he was still on the road operational working at a Boondall every month to check on my parents to see how they were going. So the number one thing that I would say about Kim Herbert, that sergeant and Dave Stevenson is that they were emotionally intelligent and were compassionate and could put themselves in the foot of other people. And if they didn't know about something, they'd actually, you know, talk to the person, look it up and learn about what they were going through. One of Dave Stevenson's things, he hated other people who were very dismissive of what people were going through. And so and I'll give you a classic example. We had somebody in our office who had a fall at home out of work hours, had a henge. He was in hospital for three months. And that Dave, because he was aware of his life circumstances through these small chats, his mum couldn't drive. So he'd ring Marie, say, oh, Marie, I'm going to see Trevor in the hospital. Would you like me to come pick you up? He'd go pick up his mum, gave his in hospital. The unfortunate thing and people have asked this to my dad and he would have seen those photographs there of me in hospital, me at home and that. And the bosses didn't have an idea what I was going through because after the initial shooting, no managers came to see me in hospital or at home. I was forgotten about. So but Dave Stevenson, he did. PM asks, have you kept in touch with your partner and Sarge from that fateful night? I have. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys share a special bond? Yes, it was life changing for all of us. And we used to have, you know, the anniversaries as it went on. But as the years have gone by on the anniversary of the shooting, I send a text message to everybody involved. And when we had those fateful shootings out west just last year, coming up to 12 months, I sent a text message to them all. And they all responded because they were all horrified and brought back the events. In your presentation, you said you'd come a long way from those early stages of recovery. This is a follow up question on that. Lisa and Vicky ask, do you still get triggered today by noises that may take you back to that night? And are you still discovering any new ones? And they also said brilliant presentation. Thank you. Generally, I would say no. Sort of most of my triggers I've become aware of. And that's not to say that something else couldn't could not occur. But I do things like, you know, I turn the television off like what's going on now in the Middle East is, you know, is absolutely horrible. I know what I'm going through. People are going and going through the same thing and even worse. And they're going to have these, you know, you know, whole families devastated, you know, not only the physical trauma, but disregard the rights of the wrongs, what's going on over there. And so I minimize my exposure to that because I just know, unfortunately, there is so many people who are going to go through that. So Kylie says, again, feedback. Thank you so much for your message. You're very blessed to have such a loving family who gave you unwavering support through it all. And to finish up with a question, Laura asks, what have been the main factors that have assisted you to manage your psychological health? That was to be to be proactive. And in the early days, I suffered depression. I'd lie in bed and the sun had come up and I'd see the light and roll over. I just didn't want to get out of bed. But I then went on antidepressants with helps manage that. And I'd realize that, you know, sitting on the backside wasn't going to help me. And then so I tried things to see what worked. And so for me, in the very early stages, it was simply, you know, I had a basic list that I'd do the night before, you know, which was that simple. I was going to make bed, you know, make coffee, make breakfast, you know, do grocery shopping. I started with small lists that got bigger and bigger than that included exercises. But it was realizing what worked and what didn't work and then doing more of what worked. Daryl, as we wind up, thank you so much for sharing your story. Warts and all, I might add,one of the best ones I've had the pleasure of being part of. I'd like to share on your behalf, if I could, some information about PTSD and new pathways.For the first responders who may not be aware, on May 2021, workers' compensation laws in Queensland were amended to include a new presumptive streamlined pathway for first responders and eligible employees diagnosed with PTSD. First responders and eligible employees diagnosed with PTSD can now access a streamlined pathway to make a workers' compensation claim. The new pathway means they will not need to prove their PTSD was caused by work. Due to the nature of the work they do, first responders and eligible employees with diagnosed PTSD will be considered to have a work-related injury unless there is evidence to the cause. To the contrary, it will also limit the need to discuss the incident that caused their PTSD or recount past traumatic incidents they have endured throughout their careers. The amendments are detailed in the workers' compensation, rehabilitation and other legislation. The New Presumptive Laws, the New Presumptive Laws, in the New Presumptive Laws, do not change existing workers' compensation entitlements but instead provide a different pathway for lodging workers' compensation claims by reversing the onus of proof. This means that a first responder's or eligible employee's PTSD is deemed to be work-related unless there is evidence to the contrary. For more information on this visit worksafe.qld.gov.au Finally, we'd also like to highlight a valuable resource, a national free and confidential mental health support for emergency service workers and volunteers. The confidential service is for fire east police, SES, ambulance, forest fire management, licensed wildlife rescuers and carers, marine rescue and all other emergency service workers, volunteers and those retired. We will pop the link in the chat if you'd like to learn more. As we wrap up today's presentation, can I ask that you scan the QR code on the screen and complete our Short and Anonymous survey about this event. Your feedback is important to help us evaluate the program and of course inform planning for the future. Check out the website worksafe.qld.gov.au for other events happening including two more free livestream sessions this Mental Health Week. For more information on support services available, please visit the sites that we will pop up on your screen. These are invaluable resources and if you need their support and help, the contact details are up there on your screen. Can I say finally, thank you very much again, Daryl and Alan for making a cameo, a couple of cameo appearances during the presentation. It was insightful, it was raw, it was very real and hopefully to the viewers it's made a real impact. On behalf of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, thanks again for joining us for our special Mental Health Week presentation and as always, work safe, home safe.