Rescue Digest Helping You Help Others
By focusing on a particular goal each week and providing some resources to get you started, RescueDigest is here to help make your world a little but easier and to help you help others. Let’s try REDUCING STRESS!
As we discussed in a previous original article HERE:
- Police, Fire, EMS, Dispatch, Rescue, Nurse, Physician: Every Emergency Responder deals with stress on a regular basis.
- Not all stress is bad stress.
- Some Emergency Responders are dealing with destructive or even self-destructive stress.
- It can be very difficult to reduce this destructive stress, or even talk about it, once it has gone so far or for so long that it becomes the “normal” situation for a responder.
An argument for “Bring Your Dog To Work Day! <Isn’t that supposed to be a dalmatian?
We’re all different ages and we all have different stress burdens. These can come from specific incidents, work in general, home, interaction with friends, family, co-workers and the world at large. Medic SBK talks about this in two great posts on his blog HERE and HERE.
Rather than attempt to provide a general plan to work for every single emergency responder, these Goals of the Week (#GOTW) are meant to be the kind of reminders that make you say “Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to get to that!”
As with all of our #GOTW reminders, we’re going to be trying these right along with you!
For this week’s Goal of the Week, here are some resources to help you take a step (or two or four) towards reducing and managing (bad) stress.
General Tips
- Stress Management Tools and Resources from MindTools.com
- Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress
- Stress – Manage Your Stress, Measure Your Stress, and Reduce Your Stress
- Stress Management Habits from the American Heart Association
- 8 Tips for Stress Reduction. | GeekMom | Wired.com
Emergency Responder Specific Stress Resources
- Stress Relief Firefighter
- Everyday EMS Stress Management Tips | Everyday EMS Tips
- Stress Management for Emergency Services Professionals
- MANAGING STRESS AT WORK AND HOME – Fire Engineering
- Stress Management for Police Officers | Cops Alive | Police Stress and Health – Career Survival
Work / Life Balance (Special Thanks to EMS World Management Tips)
- 15 Tips for a Better Work-Life Balance
- 7 Tips for Achieving That Elusive Work-Life Balance
- Need Work-life Balance? 7 Tips
What success (or problems) have YOU had trying to reduce stress as an emergency responder? Let us know below:
