News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Firefighters and police often see people in the most dire straits, in the midst of catastrophic loss and pain and fear. When unspeakable tragedy can be a part of any day on the job, it takes its toll.
"It wears them out," says Chaplain Jim Crowley.
Crowley led a debriefing of personnel who responded to a horrific head-on collision on Highway 20 earlier this month, which took the lives of two men and left a woman in critical condition and fighting for her life.
The Critical Incident and Stress Debriefing is part of an overall program to help emergency personnel manage the ongoing and sometimes acute stresses of their work.
With the United States embroiled in more than a decade of war, society at large is more aware than ever of the ravages on combat veterans of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Police and firefighters, too, can suffer from PTSD.
And stresses that can become acute are difficult to address when an officer or a medic has to suit up and go to work every day over the course of a 25-year career, constantly exposed to the kinds of trauma that trigger PTSD in the first place.
The strains are myriad. A sheriff's deputy has to deal with a grieving parent who has just lost a child - then respond to a neighborhood dispute that is utterly trivial by comparison - and he must maintain his professional demeanor even if he's seething inside.
An EMT responds to a wreck and is reminded of her own children, and the sensation scores her heart.
In a small community like Sisters, there's the added burden of personally knowing someone who has been in an accident or a medical emergency and the personal becomes that much more painful.
And there's always the chance that the victim is someone really close.
"We've had situations with fire personnel showing up to incidents where their family members are involved," says Crowley.
It all adds up to a potentially toxic stew of stressors that, if not properly addressed, can damage lives and impede performance.
The stresses of the job can cause family problems - both police and firefighters have high rates of divorce - and push some emergency responders to depression, substance abuse and
suicide.
Crowley notes that a traumatic experience - say an EMT losing a young patient - creates an instinctive desire to avoid a similar scenario. Yet that EMT must respond to a similar scenario, and will do so many times over her career. How does she do it without gradually breaking down?
According to Crowley, there are several key components to keeping first responders healthy and on an even keel - and they all have to be present and working together.
Reinforcing positive behaviors and healthful forms of stress relief and avoiding negative behaviors is critical. The temptation to blow off stress by self-medicating with alcohol or drugs is always present, but such temporary fixes actually make things worse.
Crowley said that cognitive efforts are needed to work through what he calls "stinkin' thinkin'" - self-analysis that constantly plays out alternative scenarios that might - theoretically - have changed a tragic outcome. "If I'd only got there sooner; if I had just been able to..."
It's important, Crowley said, that a first responder be able to recognize that "you did the best you could do and that's all you can do."
Staying in good physical condition is also very important. Exercise releases endorphins that elevate mood and provides a healthy outlet for stress and anger. Exercise helps restore the balance after the adrenaline dump experienced during a crisis.
Chronic stress literally eats at your physical well-being and can lead to serious health problems.
"Stress unmanaged is going to create a lot of grief for the guys and gals," Crowley says.
A healthy diet is key - avoiding excess caffeine and eating protein instead of carbs helps avoid the overstimulation-crash cycle that many stressed-out people experience. And Crowley emphasizes the importance of sleep, which can be hard to come by in the wake of trauma.
"Sleep regenerates your systems like you can't believe," he said.
Perhaps most important is finding a source of faith. Crowley says that faith helps make people more resilient.
As a chaplain, faith is Crowley's field - but he can't and won't impose it. What he can do is help one of his people find or reconnect with whatever they can put their faith in.
Crowley puts it this way: "What is it that you think can help you that is outside yourself? I'm going to challenge you to re-cultivate that place where you felt peace - that you determined."
While great strides have been made over the past couple of decades in creating a culture where those who need it can seek help, there are still obstacles. Emergency personnel tend to see themselves as the strong helper, not as the person needing help. And needing help can still be seen as a career-killer.
Administrators have to evaluate their personnel for their fitness for the field - and the troops know that. It's only natural that they are wary of appearing "damaged."
Crowley says that the law enforcement/fire culture in Central Oregon is receptive to the need. For one thing, no administrator wants to lose good personnel that represent a major investment in training time and cost. And good administrators care about the well-being of their
people.
"The guys and gals that are in leadership want to take care of the guys and gals that are on the road," Crowley says. "They want them to be healthy."
The Critical Incident and Stress Debriefing reflects that desire.
"This kind of tool tends to give the officers the opportunity to say 'It's OK to hurt.'"
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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