Improving Your Resistance to a Critical Incident

Preventive Medicine - Improving your resistance to a Critical Incident

As an emergency dispatcher your potential exposure to a Critical Incident

can be your greatest on-the-job hazard.  You can't stop them from happening,

but preventative measures you can take to "strengthen" yourself can help

lessen the impact to you when they occur.

Everyone has differing tolerance to stress.  Some can handle seemingly

incredible stress loads without much effect, while others have greater

difficulty.  We are all different.  It isn't' a matter of one person being

stronger or weaker, just different.  Many factors go into how well we deal

with stress in general and critical stress in particular.

For instance the reason that one person may be stronger in a crisis is

because of their experience in similar circumstances, or because of a

culmination of events through being on the job a long time.  Consequently a

person who is less adept is so because of inexperience from a lack of any

experience, or from other factors.

Yet everyone can do something to protect themselves from the stress of a CI.

Here are a few tips.

1.  Know proper stress management.   This seems like a no-brainer, but it is

essential.  Most of the negative effects of stress come from a negative

coping system.  When you have an inadequate coping system, you are simply

not going to properly adapt to any stressor, much less a critical incident.

It's like going into battle with a baseball bat, yeah, you'll get a few, but

not for long.  Sooner or later you are going down.  Learn what stress is,

how it affects you and learn good active coping mechanisms.

2. Take care of yourself.   Dispatchers like to "get it right".  We like to

do a good job.  So we make sure we are prepared for shift.  We have our

"dispatcher book", you know, the binder with all the pertinent information.

We have maybe a pad of paper, enough pens.  Oh, and if you are really

together you have a 48 ounce leak proof, spill proof coffee container (my

most important tool!).  Yep, we prepare!

But there is more to it actually.  We have to be also mentally and

physically prepared as well. Mentally we have to have the proper frame of

mind to be there, you know, right attitude, alert.  Physically it is hard to

take the stress of the job when we are tired, or sick, or just worn out.

So the best thing we can do is get enough rest and eat properly, NO MATTER

WHAT.  I tell dispatchers all the time, and I practiced it.  I had one

priority during my time at the console.  I got as much rest as possible and

I made sure I ate properly.   No it isn't easy.  I worked my share of relief

shifts and mids.  But no matter what I learned early if I didn't make those

two things a priority I wasn't going to be able to keep up with the pace and

demand of the job.  If I didn't care for myself, I hadn't a chance of caring

for anyone or anything else.

Now it doesn't mean you always get eight hours of sleep or eat a four course

meal.  But for me it meant that whatever shift I was on, I set a sleep time

between shifts which worked for me.  Yes I had distractions, duties and

things to do apart from the console, but I still got my zzzz's.  You can do

it too.  It just has to be a priority for you.   The same thing with meals.

I tried to eat three times a day, and the ate the things that people told me

were good for me.  I stayed away from eating pizzas after midnight and

switched to something a little less, er, filling.

The point is that I ate right - for me.  I slept right - for me, and it

worked for me.  So you have to discover what works for you.   Keeping

yourself mentally and physically prepared is a good first step.

3.  Along the lines of being mentally prepared, it is good to watch your

"self talk".  No, not like your crazy or anything, but we all talk to

ourselves from time to time.   Don't use terms that reflect negatively on

the day before you, "Like, Oh man, here I go again, same old day, same old

job".  You are not going to have a good day in that frame of mind and quite

frankly if you feel that way, why are you still there?  We all get tired and

worn out.  But did you know that 80 percent of your attitude is a reflection

of your "self-talk"?  Well it is.   When you have a sour or down right

rotten attitude you are actually doing more harm to yourself than you might

realize.  It is actually stressful to be negative.

So perk up!  Why so glum?  Ok, so your pay ain't so great and maybe your

boss is a cross breed between Barney Fife and Joe Friday...does it HAVE TO

affect your day?  It's up to you.  But if you get exposed to a critical

incident and you are already "spiked", it is going to affect you all the

much more.

My rule is, "I never let anyone, anything or any thought bring you down".

That sole privilege belongs to me."  If I choose to have a rotten day or a

bad attitude or negative thought about people and life, well, it's my

prerogative.  But then I have no one else to blame but myself, for you see

I've only given that privilege to me.

As I said in the beginning, you aren't going to change a CI from happening,

but just a little preparation beforehand can help you survive one when it

happens.