EMS Agencies Need to Have EAP Resources to Address Stress and Reduce Suicides

We battle a lot of demons in EMS. We battle cardiac arrhythmias in an attempt to reverse their negative effects on the heart. We battle infections by taking preventive actions to ensure we, and our patients, don’t succumb to its predictable damage. And we battle time with trauma patients, taking rapid action to prevent irreversible shock. But yet, we’re a stubborn, proud breed that does very little to help ourselves battle one of our worst demons: stress. EMS, fire, rescue and law enforcement attracts compassionate and physically strong people. But some responders feel that admitting to suffering stress because of what they’ve seen or experienced in the field is somehow a show of weakness. It’s not. By the nature of what we do, we’re often labeled as “adrenaline junkies.” That’s not a bad thing because adrenaline, a natural hormone in our body, increases our rates of blood circulation, breathing and carbohydrate metabolism, and prepares our muscles for exertion. These are all very important in stressful and demanding situations and help us get through them. But adrenaline, like all hormones or chemicals, has a limited strength and effective time period. Therefore, soon after a stressful event occurs, so too does our adrenaline level and its compensatory mechanism. That’s when we begin to feel the physical and emotional aftermath of an incident and stress builds. It becomes greatly accelerated if we have a second or third stressful call on the same shift, oft...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Administration and Leadership & Professionalism Provider Wellness Safety Columns Source Type: news