Mental health and wellbeing  support for Scotland’s Emergency Workers has been boosted with funding of £138,000  for  Lifelines Scotland. Police, ambulance and fire and rescue service personnel will be able to obtain online information and resources.

The Scottish Government funding extends the current Lifelines Scotland programme which provided support for Community Emergency Responders, mountain rescue volunteers, the RNLI and other volunteers.

Linda Douglas, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development at the Scottish Ambulance Service, said:

“Tens of thousands of people work for Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service, providing vital services to our communities, saving lives and making a real difference every day.

“However, their jobs can be physically, emotionally and psychologically demanding. Each of the emergency services take the mental health and wellbeing of their staff extremely seriously, and offer staff access to a range of support services and information.

“We all welcome the extension of the Lifelines Scotland initiative to frontline staff as this funding will enable us to boost the support available to emergency responders.”