SeekingSerenity
MyPTSD Pro
Even the most compassionate doctor/nurse/EMT/FF/etc will have a point where they just say "You know what, forget it. You're sick, I did the best I could, I'm done." And that is okay, and normal, and healthy. You're not invested in these people permanently, so you shouldn't extend permanent parts of yourself to them.
This is, in my opinion, the bottom line.
How do we do the job, to the absolute best of our ability, but then walk away and leave all of the hurt and pain and emotion behind us. We cannot take it home, it destroys our relationship with our families. We cannot just throw it on the ground, it has a dignity. We cannot store it up inside ourselves, its festers and kills us slowly. We need to find a way to let it go, with compassion and caring, and empathy, and dignity.
But we HAVE to let them go...