A mental health first aid course offered by St. John Ambulance is seeing high registration numbers as the province grapples with the second wave of COVID-19.

The director of programs and client services, Bonnie Birmingham, says the next two virtual courses are booked solid. The one-day program that teaches employees how to recognize mental health illness or injury within coworkers is delivered on an ongoing basis as registration fills.

Birmingham says the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the potential for burnout and mental exhaustion. Isolation and coping with the many workplace transitions are taxing over time but Birmingham assures that the program looks at such hardships.

She says one of the biggest hurdles employees face is when there’s a stigma around reaching out for professional help.

Birmingham says stigma is an important focus throughout the course.