Captain, the Reverend Eric Davis is a serving chaplain with the Canadian Armed Forces. Over and above the scope of his professional duties, Captain Davis is a dedicated supporter of military members and Veterans struggling with the burden of mental health problems.
Since December 2013, Captain Davis has been an instrumental volunteer in the administration of the peer support initiative, “Send Up the Count,” an online social media campaign by current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces to reach out to comrades who may be struggling and at risk of suicide or other self-harm. Captain Davis has worked tirelessly to help with the administration of the group of over 13,000 members, mostly composed of members of the military or Veteran community. He has done so without compensation or seeking recognition for his efforts. Through his tactful engagement with Veterans, many of them struggling emotionally, he has been essential in building and maintaining a community where military and Veteran peers can safely support each other through crisis.
While involved with this campaign, Captain Davis has, on several occasions, identified Veterans who were currently in crisis, reaching out to them while they accessed appropriate professional or peer support resources. He has been involved in several situations where members of the initiative, spread across the country, have identified and located Veterans who were in the middle of active suicide attempts in order to get them police and emergency medical services. As a direct result of Captain Davis’ services, several lives have been saved. He continues to support struggling Veterans after crisis, providing support as a peer and helping to find appropriate community and Veterans resources. He has been instrumental in leveraging his contacts within the Chaplaincy and other support services of the Canadian Armed Forces to get appropriate and necessary resources to serving members.