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.
