RescueDigest GOTW: Reducing Stress

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:

  1. Police, Fire, EMS, Dispatch, Rescue, Nurse, Physician: Every Emergency Responder deals with stress on a regular basis.
  2. Not all stress is bad stress.
  3. Some Emergency Responders are dealing with destructive or even self-destructive stress.
  4. 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

Emergency Responder Specific Stress Resources

Work / Life Balance (Special Thanks to EMS World Management Tips)

What success (or problems) have YOU had trying to reduce stress as an emergency responder? Let us know below:

About romduck

Rom Duckworth is a dedicated emergency responder, author, and educator with more than thirty years of experience working in career and volunteer fire departments, hospital healthcare systems, and private emergency medical services. Rom is a career fire captain and paramedic EMS Coordinator for the Ridgefield (CT) Fire Department and director of the New England Center for Rescue and Emergency Medicine. Rom holds a master’s degree in public administration, is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer program, and is the recipient of the NAEMT Presidential Award, American Red Cross Hero Award, Sepsis Alliance Sepsis Hero Award, and the EMS 10 Innovators Award. Rom is the author of "Duckworth on Education," as well as chapters in more than a dozen EMS, fire, rescue, and medical textbooks and over 100 published articles in fire and EMS magazines. A member of the NAEMT Board of Directors, as well as other national and international advocacy and advisory boards, Rom continues to work for the advancement of emergency services professions. Contact Rom via www.romduck.com