Starting as a first responder, looking for advice.

[QuakerJoe]

Hi all. I am wondering if there are any first responders here willing to share some advice.

I recently completed my EMT-B and I am looking to work or volunteer (whichever comes first) with a local ambulance or fire district. I experienced a long term trauma related to school when I was very young. Through a lot of hard work I am now in a very healthy place and I have a lot of good mechanisms for dealing with this past trauma when needed.

During my EMT training I was exposed to several emergencies and I participated in a rescue as part of a team of rescuers. This rescue involved carrying a patient with a broken leg out of the woods on a backboard. None of these situations triggered a flashback or were a stressor for me. There was however a moment during a classroom period when I needed to step out for a minute.

Are there any First Responders out there who started with pre-existing trauma? What advice can you give me?

Thank you very much.

 

[The Albatross]

Yeah I was a first responder, lifeguard and also CNA to include hospice. I have no recollection of "before trauma" but recognized I had the tendency to run to trouble rather than freeze/faint/run away from it.

I would take a look back on the material being covered in training where you had to step back as best as you can recollect it... if you can't find a direct cause perhaps it had something to do with your stressors that day.

Advice... Maintenance, maintenance, self care, self care, maintenance, self care, management. There are many first responders who are quite effective and I actually believe are especially suited to do/perform the tasks... but "know thyself" and "adjust accordingly".

 

[The Albatross]

You would maybe be surprised how many first responders are actually former trauma (big T or little t) kinda like how many of codependents are care givers. It is a way to take the hyperawareness into a positive direction for better outcomes for people in crisis and it kinda undoes the hardwiring... a sort of reenactment with a twist cuz it's real time and has the purpose of giving somebody a better outcome than what we or ours may have experienced.

 

[Freida]

Advice... Maintenance, maintenance, self care, self care, maintenance, self care, management.

Yep - yep - yep. Add: feel your feelings (regardless of what that crusty old timer may say about sucking it up).

 

[gealach]

What happened in class that made you need to step out? keep in mind that you can't step out while you're on a call.

I came in to EMS with big T traumas, but not ptsd.

The #1 advice I give all my students is that ''it's their emergency, not yours''. Being a wounded healer can complicate things. Your history can help you empathize and advocate for your patients, but remember you're on the call to help the patient and that's where your focus needs to be.

The #2 advice I give, is to take care of yourself. It doesn't matter what the call is, if it's causing you issues seek help early. There's a lot of focus right now on ptsd in first responders (at least where I am), and it's making it easier to seek help and be taken seriously.

The #3 advice I give is, you work what you practice, so practice. If you know something in particular is a stressor or trigger, practice for calls with that element, and it will become almost like muscle memory and remove some of the emotion. Scenario visualization helps with this too, creating muscle memory for your brain. If you practice for/visualize the worst, the call will always be better than what you practiced for.

 

[Justmehere]

I've done some first responder work. I'd suggest having a therapist on hand, even if you only see them 2-3 times a year, so if issues do come up, you can easily get in to see someone who already knows you.

 

[Daph]

EMS calls can be capricious and cruel!

Often in scenarios, at least when I went to school, your patient's condition or outcome is the result of the practitioner's interventions. Yes it helped you to decide what course of action to take. But if something was missed or maybe the treatment for the patient is incorrect, that is when the patient would decline rapidly or code. It made me blame myself going forward in my career if the patient didn't pull through. I would go home running the call/ calls over and over in my head to pinpoint what mistake I had done- I must have done something wrong!

However, you can do everything right to the book on a call in the real world and still the patient's outcome may not improve but worsen (sometimes rapidly).
Remember that the patient's condition was/is declining (usually without ANY interventions) prior to your arrival, therefore the care/treatment you do is still an improvement whether it delivers the desired result or not!

 

[Daph]

Also, we are always told to "have empathy" or "be empathetic." Be careful with that because empathy means we "feel" their pain by putting ourselves in their shoes and that can cause caregiver burnout. Compassion is maybe better to practice as it is showing "concern" versus feeling the pain.
There is a clip on that by Doc Vader/ zdoggmd about that called "I hate empathy and so should you" you can search if you want...I think it is interesting...