for many of us THIS IS our peer support system...especially for those
who have left the job...because as close as everyone is when your
there...is as far apart as you are when you leave...especially for
medical reasons

--- In emsfirepoliceptsd@yahoogroups.com, "Nick Arnett" <narnett@...>
wrote:
>
> On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 8:06 AM, Debra Brice <debrab122@...> wrote:
>
> > I certainly don't have the answers to what helps. For me
journaling has
> > helped as well as talking with a counselor. The event (an
ambulance run)
> > for me occurred a little over a year ago, so I am relatively new
to this
> > whole PTSD process. You wrote almost exactly how I feel,
although I could
> > not put it into words. Everyone still sees me as capable and
confident.
>
>
> Do you (and others here) have a peer support team? I think it can
really
> help by being a safe place to let go of the attitudes and
appearances that
> help us get through the "regular" days. Under the badge (or title,
> whatever), we're all human.
>
> I led a debriefing a while ago in which a young
firefighter/paramedic said
> that she had looked at a victim's MySpace page. When she mentioned
this to
> one of the older guys (let's call him "Bob") he told her that was
wrong, she
> should never do that, etc. She was carrying a huge load of guilt
about it,
> she said.
>
> I told her that while it might have been the wrong thing for Bob,
it may
> very well have been the right thing for her. I remember
saying, "We're not
> robots." Sometimes we will be touched, hard, by the people we deal
with,
> especially when we're feeling helpless, unable to really make a
difference
> despite all our training, equipment and experience. It's not going
to be
> every time, maybe not even very often, but it will happen. An
incident
> might be hard just be because the victim looks like your mother or
some
> other random thing. I think I said, "You made a connection with
her (the
> victim) and it is only normal and natural to want to know more
about who she
> was."
>
> I guess I'm telling you this because looking at the MySpace page is
an
> example of not appearing capable and confident. The old pro
supposedly
> never gets attached to victims and patients. That sure was the
attitude 25
> years ago... but it wasn't working. It worked 99 percent of the
time, but
> the other 1 percent was hell.
>
> Although I'm a big believer in peer support, I have to add that it
can do
> harm if done badly, re-traumatizing people. Leaders should be well-
trained,
> experienced and reasonably detached from the incidents where
they're doing
> support. Some of those who struggle the most with these issues can
be the
> best team leaders... if you don't have peer support, you might
consider
> becoming trained through ICISF or a related group. The training
itself can
> help a great deal, since you'll be surrounded by people who will
know what
> you're dealing with.
>
> Nick
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>