Food for thought: PTSD and YOU!

[firetender]

I ran in to a brief article on something we all know, but don't talk about, on Security Industry Forum in the U.K.


Paramedics see more trauma, death and tragedy than most front line soldiers


http://www.the-siu.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=965


It led me on a trail that brought me to some real good insights, both pro and con that was posted on the original blog, which was entitled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder:


http://www.fair-go.com/blog/2013/03/11/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/


...and that led me to this in the Sydney Morning Herald, which I hope will spur on some serious discussion. Anguish starts after the sirens stop


http://www.smh.com.au/national/anguish-starts-after-the-sirens-stop-20100430-tzaf.html


Something I DO know is that at least two of my peers from a core group of about 32 paramedics committed suicide. I say at least because there were other deaths amongst them that had all the earmarks and patterns to them of self-inflicted death.


But this isn't about the tragic deaths so much as it is about the pain that goes on for so many of the others amongst us who choose to live through it.


The reason EMS is nowhere near the profession it could be is because too many good personnel slink away silently before they have the chance to have an impact on the future.

 

[mycrofft]

In other careers working with this sort of stress, there is an opportunity to move laterally or off the street for a great number of the participants, while in PHEMS there isn't unless you go to another career.

In my opinion this is due to the "cowboy attitude" which many younger newbies have; since older ones tend to leave, this is a self-perpetuating aspect, with many more younger (less-experienced, lower-paid) guys joining.

And maybe that is an inescapable aspect of "working ambulance".

 

[Rialaigh]

I think a great part of this is the lack of time to "Decompress". A full time ER nurse works 36 hours a week and that is what most ER nurses work. A full time paramedic works somewhere between 40-60 and many Paramedics have to work 60+ a week to make ends meet. Its harder on family life, its harder on social life, and EMS becomes more of a "profession" or "career" than a job. When your core identity is tied to your job then the :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty parts of your job spill over to your identity. I don't know many ER nurses who work so much and identify so much with their job that it spills over to all aspects of their life. However there are plenty of EMS guys who put the radio or pager on the stand at home and leave it on while they try and play with their kids.

Lack of decompression time causes issues that are normally handled by mentally stable people to build up to levels that become "to much" for some people that don't have a constructive outlet or lack the time for one. As long as EMS workers in most areas work 60+ hours a week to make ends meet you will see suicide rates much higher than those of our respective partners in the ER.

 

[unleashedfury]

PTSD in the EMS field is often overlooked.

Various roles play into it.

1. The paramedic supposed to be the strongest link of your emergency, and we have a attitude of "if you can't hack it" there's the door.
2. Being the lowest hanging fruit, We are the bottom of the Medical field and the hatred step child of the Fire Dept. The support often provided to other health care providers and Fire Dept. members is not as readily available to EMS
3. The ability to move to a less stressful job, or into a administrative spot to get off the streets is limited
4. We are conditioned from the time we enter the world of EMS to be "above the stressors"
5. Overworked underpaid, Many paramedics work 2 or 3 jobs just to support their family which limits time off or away from EMS to the point where being at home feels awkward. Spending time with family is limited and real time away from work is not capable. Always trying to sqeeze in that extra dollar by teaching classes, writing blogs or articles that are EMS related.

The reason why its never fixed is there is few Paramedics that stay in the field long enough to make changes. Its easier to move on to better paying careers medical or non medical related. The profitable companies gladly wave goodbye to hire a young rook at half the price

 

[Ironman]

There should be a counsellor on site to process the trauma. I intend on using my MA in counselling psychology to the maximum of what protocol allows in order to promote some sort of order and peace in the chaos of evisceration. It sounds like you've really got to know who you are, your identity, to even succeed at all in the field.

 

[Summit]

^I think that is awesome.

There is also a propensity in EMS to use people who have no more training than an EMT in mental health as our "counselors." See: CISM/CISD

 

[alphamikefoxtrot]

Crisis counselors and their equivalent in the Army made the difference for a lot of returning soldiers I know who came from front-line units and or / route clearance specifically who had seen a lot of action, hostile fire, etc. The coping skills they provide in addition to just being a kind & listening ear often make the largest difference in making a meaningful intervention to provide a stable footing back in the world.

 

[mycrofft]

Wounded Warrior Project has used a lot of peer-to-peer processes, but the second biggest thing you have to learn as a lay counselor (the biggest being "LISTEN"), is when and how to refer someone for professional help.

I think in the past we as a society accepted people's coping mechanisms after burnout or PTSD more than we do now. It is inconceivable that the wars and medical practice of prior decades and centuries were always/any less horrendous than now (imagine being a military surgeon at Gettysburg) but the drinking, emotional withdrawal and cantankerousness were considered to be within the acceptable. Also, those failing to adapt were left to drift off into their own little corner and their fate was not considered to be any one else's obligation.

And you know, for some people the "Stuff upper lip" mode is all they need, especially when they are "embedded" into a supporting society and family. (The Dr Phil Paradigm: "Sometimes 'Get over it' IS the best first step". Or as AA acknowledges, admitting your past is one step, but you have to move on from there).