We go on hundreds of calls a year and most of the time we run the call, deal with the situation and then move on but every once in a while something about a call really sticks with you. This past week I had my first call that really got to me.
Over the past 5 years I have been on plenty of codes and dealt with many situations that most people would find down right disturbing. While these calls were not easy to stomach none of the really stuck with me. There were several factors in this recent call that really made it hard to stomach. I think where I am in my life personally also played a factor in how this call impacted me as well. We handled the call professionally and from a operational level the call ran very well. All parties involved did what they needed to do and we held back the emotion in order to function and do what was best for the patient. The situation that we dealt with is not one that I would wish upon anyone. I think there are just things or situations that people should never have to be witness to and this is certainly one of those situations. Once the call was over and we had time to reflect on what had happen is when the emotion came pouring in. It seems like the emotions I felt hit the entire spectrum. There was anger, sadness, fear, and frustration. After a while, most of the emotions subsided and I was able to move on but there certainly was a bit of a hang over or numbness after the call. It was hard to return to the station and know that I still had 18 hours left in my shift. As the day went on, the emotions got better and I felt like I was getting back to normal. The rest of the shift came and went like most days do. I had some trouble sleeping at first because visions of the call kept filling my mind but eventually tiredness won out and I drifted off to sleep. The thing that I was most surprised about was how I felt when I got home. When I saw my wife, the emotions came flooding back and I found myself dealing with them all over again. I certainly was not prepared for that at all. Its now a few days post incident and some of the feelings are still there but the wounds don't feel as fresh. In my mind though this is where the important work of coping really becomes a key. Now that the initial pain and emotions have subsided, how am I going to move forward?
Many of us in the fire service like to put on that macho bravado and really give the appearance that we have ice running through our veins and are impervious to emotion. There are some of us that really don't seem to be impacted by the calls we run but the majority of us don't fall into that category. Most of us have a dark sense of humor and we joke with one another in a way that most people outside the fire service don't understand. A lot of what we say to each other behind closed doors would appear mean and heartless to the outside world but for many of us its just how we cope. We use insults and jokes as a thin veil for us to expel those negative emotions that get stirred up by an unsettling call. Does it help, sure it does but it probably isn't the healthiest way to deal with things.
There was a time in this industry that the mention of a critical incident stress debriefing or speaking with a counselor would be seen as weak and unacceptable. It seems as though the culture is beginning to shift a little bit though. CISD and peer counseling are becoming more prevalent. People are realizing that it is far healthier to talk through and address the feelings as opposed to just bottling them up and trying to hide from them. We have so many more options available to us these days it is foolish not to take advantage of them. Resources range from coworkers to supervisors to chaplains to counsellors. I think it is really important for us to be proactive and work to resolve these issues as opposed to avoiding them. Post traumatic stress is not just happening to soldiers coming back from war. It is happening to our police officers and firefighters from exposure to some of the calls they go on throughout the course of their careers. You shouldn't feel ashamed if you utilize one of these avenues to deal with the emotions. If your arm was broken you would go to the doctor and get a cast. If you are emotionally broken you seek treatment as well. It doesn't mean your weak, it just means you want to deal with the emotions so that they don't come flooding back in the middle of a call. There is no shame in that.
I am a very big proponent in CISD and peer counseling within the department. It is an area that I have been trying to get further training so that I can be a resource to my co-workers. It is certainly not healthy to just try and suppress all of the emotions you have inside, you need to take action to deal with these feelings. Most employers have EAPs (employee assistance program) that you can utilize. If your employer doesn't, seek out a co-worker or a supervisor you trust and utilize them. Just as it is important that we take care of ourselves physically, it is equally important that we take care of ourselves emotionally. It just isn't healthy to go through life avoiding emotional trauma. I hope that in the future if you run a call that impacts you that you seek help to deal with these emotions.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Life Safety Initiative #2 Accountability
Today's installment will be covering Life Safety Initiative #2 Accountability. Initiative #2: Enhance the personal and organizational accountability for health and safety throughout the fire service. So what does this initiative mean to us. Accountability is very important in the fire service and typically we do a very good job of accountability at fire incidents. Where we seem to be lacking accountability is away from the fire scene back at the station and in our personal lives. We will discuss our short comings in a minute but first lets talk about the areas where we do well with accountability.
In the fire service we use what is called the Incident Command System or ICS for short. ICS is a system that was developed by wildland firefighters and then eventually adopted by the rest of the fire service. ICS is a concept that helps define roles and responsibility and better establishes the chain of command. Its intent is to provide a system where everyone uses like terminology and interoperability between multiple department and agency operations. It can be used on large scale incidents or it can be scaled back and simplified to be used in routine incidents where only 1 or 2 companies are involved. I won't go into ICS too in depth because honestly I could devote 20-30 blog posts to the topic and still only brush the surface of it. One of the most important components of ICS is accountability. In the fire service accountability is a key factor as it allows us to track our resources and know where all personnel and assets are at any given point in an incident. If an incident goes south the incident commander can review the accountability board to determine what companies are assigned to what task and what everyone is doing. It allows the incident commander to keep tabs on the entire incident. If you look back at line of duty deaths you can see examples of where accountability has failed. A catastrophic event during a fire incident is not time you want to find out that you have not kept track of where your personnel or assets are located. We need to be ready for anything during a fire incident so using accountability well can save lives.
Where we need to improve our accountability is back at the station and off duty. Health and safety are not always a high priority to firefighters away from the fire scene. Some firefighters have a tendency to look at themselves as invincible so they don't always worry about taking care of themselves mentally or physically. Its not uncommon to see over weight and out of shape firefighters at a firehouse. For too many years eating healthy, exercising and preventative maintenance has not been a huge priority for firefighters. We typically like to eat and almost every company has a firefighter that is a good cook and likes to feed their fellow firefighters. We need to do a better job of taking care of ourselves. With accountability we can take steps to improve our health and safety. We need to start taking better care of ourselves. Just like we work to prevent fires we need to work to prevent injuries and illness.
Accountability for health and safety starts at the top and goes all the way through to the bottom. Everyone from the Chief to the rookie firefighter needs to buy in. The department and all of its members need to promote safety and being healthy. It is an attitude the department needs to embrace. We need to be eating healthier, exercising and taking preventive measures with our health. An easy way to get this started is by requiring annual physicals. Yes there is cost involved to the department but it gets the guys into the doctor at least one a year and allows for screenings of various ailments that wouldn't otherwise be caught without the physicals. For career departments this can actually be forced upon you because many pension systems require yearly physicals for firefighters. Many departments are installing fitness equipment in the stations and either encouraging or require firefighters to exercise while on duty. Some department even go as far as to bring in wellness coaches and nutritionists to help promote health and safety within their department. It is wonderful that departments are trying to promote health and safety but it can't stop there. Firefighters need to promote health and safety and take personal accountability for themselves and their health. Take time to workout at work if your department allows. Don't just stop their, take care of yourself off duty as well. Join a gym and exercise regularly or come into the station and workout on your off days. Take care in what you are eating and how you are taking care of yourself. This is personal accountability.
We work in a field that is strenuous both physically and mentally. We are put into conditions that the body doesn't always like. If you are over weight and out of shape you have a far higher likely hood of going down on a fire scene or having a cardiac event. If this happens you could be putting your crew at risk as they may have to divert from their original assignment in order to rescue you from harm. We live in a era where ignorance is a poor excuse for taking care of yourself. The goal is for everyone to go home. We practice our fire and EMS skills to ensure we are able to do our jobs well but it shouldn't stop there. We need to take accountability for our health and safety and that means exercising and eating better. This is not a job where you can get by being over weight and out of shape. Take care of yourself so you can take care of the job.
In the fire service we use what is called the Incident Command System or ICS for short. ICS is a system that was developed by wildland firefighters and then eventually adopted by the rest of the fire service. ICS is a concept that helps define roles and responsibility and better establishes the chain of command. Its intent is to provide a system where everyone uses like terminology and interoperability between multiple department and agency operations. It can be used on large scale incidents or it can be scaled back and simplified to be used in routine incidents where only 1 or 2 companies are involved. I won't go into ICS too in depth because honestly I could devote 20-30 blog posts to the topic and still only brush the surface of it. One of the most important components of ICS is accountability. In the fire service accountability is a key factor as it allows us to track our resources and know where all personnel and assets are at any given point in an incident. If an incident goes south the incident commander can review the accountability board to determine what companies are assigned to what task and what everyone is doing. It allows the incident commander to keep tabs on the entire incident. If you look back at line of duty deaths you can see examples of where accountability has failed. A catastrophic event during a fire incident is not time you want to find out that you have not kept track of where your personnel or assets are located. We need to be ready for anything during a fire incident so using accountability well can save lives.
Where we need to improve our accountability is back at the station and off duty. Health and safety are not always a high priority to firefighters away from the fire scene. Some firefighters have a tendency to look at themselves as invincible so they don't always worry about taking care of themselves mentally or physically. Its not uncommon to see over weight and out of shape firefighters at a firehouse. For too many years eating healthy, exercising and preventative maintenance has not been a huge priority for firefighters. We typically like to eat and almost every company has a firefighter that is a good cook and likes to feed their fellow firefighters. We need to do a better job of taking care of ourselves. With accountability we can take steps to improve our health and safety. We need to start taking better care of ourselves. Just like we work to prevent fires we need to work to prevent injuries and illness.
Accountability for health and safety starts at the top and goes all the way through to the bottom. Everyone from the Chief to the rookie firefighter needs to buy in. The department and all of its members need to promote safety and being healthy. It is an attitude the department needs to embrace. We need to be eating healthier, exercising and taking preventive measures with our health. An easy way to get this started is by requiring annual physicals. Yes there is cost involved to the department but it gets the guys into the doctor at least one a year and allows for screenings of various ailments that wouldn't otherwise be caught without the physicals. For career departments this can actually be forced upon you because many pension systems require yearly physicals for firefighters. Many departments are installing fitness equipment in the stations and either encouraging or require firefighters to exercise while on duty. Some department even go as far as to bring in wellness coaches and nutritionists to help promote health and safety within their department. It is wonderful that departments are trying to promote health and safety but it can't stop there. Firefighters need to promote health and safety and take personal accountability for themselves and their health. Take time to workout at work if your department allows. Don't just stop their, take care of yourself off duty as well. Join a gym and exercise regularly or come into the station and workout on your off days. Take care in what you are eating and how you are taking care of yourself. This is personal accountability.
We work in a field that is strenuous both physically and mentally. We are put into conditions that the body doesn't always like. If you are over weight and out of shape you have a far higher likely hood of going down on a fire scene or having a cardiac event. If this happens you could be putting your crew at risk as they may have to divert from their original assignment in order to rescue you from harm. We live in a era where ignorance is a poor excuse for taking care of yourself. The goal is for everyone to go home. We practice our fire and EMS skills to ensure we are able to do our jobs well but it shouldn't stop there. We need to take accountability for our health and safety and that means exercising and eating better. This is not a job where you can get by being over weight and out of shape. Take care of yourself so you can take care of the job.
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