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RicochetJaguar
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Number of ratings18 Number of reviews17 Listens toOver 18 LanguagesEnglish Listener sinceFeb 17, 2019 Last activeover 6 months ago GenderMale PathStep 120 People helped76 Chats1,231 Group support chats447 Listener group chats550 Forum posts257 Forum upvotes747
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World Mental Health Day: Emergency Services Trauma
Trauma Support / by RicochetJaguar
Last post
 October 11th, 2020
...See more In the spirit of world mental health day I have come across an older news article I want to share. It's message is just as strong as when it was first posted and I feel its fitting to share this post today to help spread awareness of what its like to work in the emergency services. ***Trigger warning*** Discussion of intrusive memories and traumatic experiences, including death and body recovery. Disclaimer: any words after this are not my own, but are copied from this article; https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/jan/30/mental-health-dead-people-flashbacks-emergency-services-fireighters [https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/jan/30/mental-health-dead-people-flashbacks-emergency-services-fireighters%C2%A0] _________________________ I see dead people. It's normal and more people should talk about it Rob Norman Flashbacks and intrusive memories are part of dealing with trauma. More of us in the emergency services should be comfortable talking about mental health This will be my 17th year in the fire and rescue service. In the course of my duties I have responded to a range of incidents including accidents on motorways, train and aircraft crashes, and the fatal fire at Atherstone-on-Stour in 2007, where four of my fellow firefighters lost their lives. We worked for days to recover the bodies of our fallen colleagues from an unsafe structure, still in the process of collapse. Much could be written about the mental impact of this one incident alone. It was during the critical incident debrief that followed the fire at Atherstone-on-Stour that I first became aware of intrusive thoughts. My service had contracted a counsellor to discuss the incident with all those who had been there. He explained that the brain is not able to process traumatic incidents in its usual way. Instead, it randomly accesses pieces of your memories at a later stage, which can result in intrusive memories or flashbacks. I was informed that this was normal, and that far from being an indication that my mind was out of control, it was actually essential to my mental health. I know that I will never forget being stood to attention in a guard of honour, formed by the emergency services staff on site, as the grieving families of the deceased passed by to witness their loved ones being solemnly carried from the building to the waiting funeral cars. I will never forget how heart-wrenching it felt, and that even though I didn’t know any of them personally, they were part of what we often refer to as the 999 family. My 999 family. These are my conscious thoughts, for times of quiet reflection; they do not simply arrive uninvited, causing disruption, unlike my intrusive memories. Sometimes I see dead people. It is perfectly normal and more people should talk about it. I was told that memories of specific incidents become less frequent as the mind puts the pieces back together and files them away. I was also told that if they don’t, or if they start to interfere with everyday life, it might be worth seeking help. My experiences over the past 17 years have changed me. The things that I have seen, heard, and felt in that time have left me with new thoughts about life, death, and everything in between. While I don’t personally feel I have a mental health problem, perhaps without support I may have developed one. That possibility exists for any of us. As part of its blue light programme [http://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/campaigns/bluelight/] to improve the mental health of emergency services staff, the charity Mind [http://www.mind.org.uk/] conducted a survey of 3,627 workers – 87.5% of whom said they had experienced stress, low mood, or poor mental health. The support offered by my service following this incident has stayed with me, and I am thankful for it. Having been educated in the natural reaction of my mind following a traumatic incident, I am quite happy to discuss it, and this is key. But a recent YouGov poll [http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/news/latest-survey-shows-were-still-lost-words-when-it-comes-mental-health] revealed that nearly a third of us feel uncomfortable talking about mental health. And 71% of emergency services staff responding to the Mind survey felt their organisation did not encourage them to talk about mental health. As a consequence, many people suffer in silence, or turn to other coping mechanisms such as alcohol. There will always be specific triggers for these recurring memories, such as returning to the scene of an incident. One example for me is the heartbreaking death of a father and his three-year-old son. We had been called to help with the search of a river after a boat had capsized. Two children had been rescued before we got there, and as I arrived on the river bank, the limp body of a third child was being taken from the water and frantically worked on by paramedics. As I struggled to comprehend the scene in front of me, I desperately hoped for some signs of life. There were none. I remember helping to launch the rescue boat in the shallow water downstream, and the struggle of my teammates to get upstream, passing under a bridge, as the boat made its journey to the site where, later, we recovered the body of the children’s father. Occasionally I drive over that bridge. Sometimes I don’t even realise I have done it, and my day continues as normal. Other days I spot the sign for the small village as I approach, and I see that father and son once again. As cuts to the fire service continue, firefighter numbers are decreasing, meaning those that remain are likely to be exposed to critical incidents with greater frequency. The nation’s emergency services need to be talking about mental health. I am not suggesting that all emergency responders are clinging to sanity by our fingernails. Far from it. Everything I experience reminds me of what really matters in life: that in the blink of an eye, everything can change. Even with education, intrusive memories will catch you unawares. I was recently leaving a coffee shop with my wife, and as she pulled her scarf around her neck, my mind jumped back to a middle-aged man who had taken his own life. He had hanged himself from a canal bridge, using his scarf, and had been there for several hours. After we recovered him, the police found a note in his pocket, along with a plain gold wedding band that matched the one he was wearing on his left hand. I spared my wife the additional detail, and mentioned I had just had a flashback to an incident. She asked if I wanted to talk about it. I didn’t. It’s just my mind filing things away. I understand this. But I do hope that by writing this, I can encourage more people to talk about mental health. Thursday 4 February is Time to Talk Day [http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/timetotalkday], run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness [https://www.rethink.org/]. Everyone should join the conversations about mental illness, and help end some of the misconceptions around it. The Blue Light Infoline [http://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/campaigns/bluelight/blue-light-infoline/], for emergency service staff, volunteers and their families, can be contacted on 0300 303 5999. It offers confidential support and advice on mental health and wellbeing. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here [http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html]. This series [http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/series/public-servant-my-letter-to-the-public] aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact tamsin.rutter@theguardian.com.
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Some Thoughts ***Trigger Warning***
Trauma Support / by RicochetJaguar
Last post
 July 25th, 2022
...See more ***Trigger warning*** Reference to traffic accident and death Sometimes we get bad jobs. The weird ones, those ones which get mentioned in training but you can't train for them, not really. Nothing can really prepare you for a situation that hits too close to home. You don't see it coming, you can't see it coming, sometimes you don't even recognise it for what it is until after it has been and gone. But these types of jobs can add up, it's these traumatic experiences which we suppress and bury which can lead to PTSD down the line.ÃÂ Recently I have been to one of those jobs, a friend was involved in a fatal traffic accident, my friend only suffered some broken bones, but, the other vehicle was worse off. I didn't get to help my friend because as a responder on shift I had to prioritise the most severely injured patient and follow the directions of the manager on the scene. Then on my next shift, I went to someone who was my age in a medical cardiac arrest. It is strange to think that he was in the same point of life as me, but in a situation which usually feels so distant. I can't help but think of how different his life must have been to mine, and how if he survives his quality of life will be so drastically different. The feelings conjured by these jobs are complex, to say the least... guilt that it wasn't me in that position, guilt that I had to leave my friend in pain, sadness about what has been lost, forced recognition of privilege, relief for not messing up, fear that I could have done something more, anxiety about what might come next... In hindsight I can see that my behaviour was affected by these jobs, I distanced myself from people who were close to me, I ended a relationship, I buried myself in studying so next time I was faced with something challenging I could be more prepared. I started running... a lot... These are not necessarily bad outcomes, but they are noticeable changes to my life as a result of "traumatic" events I have attended at work. I am lucky to be in a position where my employer offers counseling and PTSD prevention programs, I know this is not standard and that many of us will not have access to these types of resources. These jobs have given me a new insight into how people in our professions may be affected by what we see, and how little we can recognise how they can change how we interact with our worlds. I am not active on 7cups, and have not been for a while, but I pass by every so often. I am glad that this forum space is here for those of us who feel we might need it. If anyone has any thoughts or experiences they want to share I look forward to reading them, whenever that might be. @adventurousBranch3786 @EMSFireChic1985 @ilikecake22 @MistyMagic @PoliteOcean @RicochetJaguar @AstronomySkies @Mherapai1967
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CoVID Pressures
Trauma Support / by RicochetJaguar
Last post
 April 5th, 2020
...See more We see things we shouldn't have to see, day after day after day. No sleep and no time to recover. We go to people who have been dead for a while, we witness deaths, we take people away from their families to die. It takes an emotional toll, how couldn't it? This pandemic has made it worse than ever, no longer are we able to allow family members to grieve, we cant let them see their loved ones or say goodbye to them, they can't come with us in the ambulance, they are not allowed to visit the hospital. For example, the last 2 jobs I attended yesterday. *details changed for patient anonymity. The 89 year old with cold sepsis, her finger and lips blue, saturations at 80% on 15l/min O2, we see this and we know its worth her husband saying goodbye, just in case, because the chances are she wont come home. But, he isnt allowed to hold her hand with her as we travel to hospital, he isn't allowed to call family to come and visit her. He may not be allowed to attend her funeral if any tests show she has CoVID as he will need to self isolate for 14 days. The 50 year old who felt a bit of tiredness and shortness of breath. Whose 12-lead shows he is having a STEMI. His father died at 49 years old, his mother had a heard attack the week before. He has to go to hospital without his wife or son, he cried when the doctors told him they have to do urgent surgery on him to pull the clot out of his heart. He couldn't speak to his wife on the phone due to his voice shaking from fear. Whilst we usually rush through the doors into theatres for this sort of job, he had to sit with us on the ambulance, terrified, for about half an hour. The surgeons had to deep clean the operating room as their last patient had likely had CoVID, and then they had to don their additional PPE. The pateint and I couldn't talk that much whilst we waited, as the masks we had to wear muffled our voices. I was asked to work a 22 hour shift, that is illegal in my country. My crewmates told me to go home, they would cover for me. The resourcing staff are overwhelmed, they can't cope with having so many of us off ill and mistakes like that are being made. We only know our shifts for the next 2 weeks, and they often change day by day. I am currently working day shifts followed by night shifts, followed by day shifts, followed by night shifts (..do you see the pattern) with barely enough time to sleep between them. Theres no time to unpack what we go to, no time to recover or relax. Daily we are sent multiple messages starting like "can all crews remember" "is everyone able to keep in mind" "please do x when..." "lets all remember to" - whilst individually these are not big requests, they add up. Theres only so much we can keep in mind when our minds are full of the last incidents we atteneded. The patients we are going to are sicker than what we usually see. The nonsense calls have reduced because people are (rightfully) scared to go to hospital, so are not calling us unless they actually need us. We do not get a break on shift, its constant. If something goes wrong, someone dies. Things are going to start slipping, its a scary time to work in healthcare. This anxiety manifests itself in strange ways, for example, my crewmate was taking his temperature every hour yesterday, he was worried he wouldn't notice if it went up and he might start accidentally spreading CoVID. I am not sure what the solution is. But, to those of you struggling with work at the moment, you are not alone. To everyone else - stay home. @adventurousBranch3786 @EMSFireChic1985 @ilikecake22 @MistyMagic @PoliteOcean @RicochetJaguar @AstronomySkies @Mherapai1967
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CoVID-19 Help Wanted
Community Projects & Events / by RicochetJaguar
Last post
 June 29th, 2020
...See more Currently Recruiting: Group Support Discussion co/host: You must meet the requirements here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupSupport_168/ASilentObserversOffice_2008/BecomeaDiscussionLeaderCoLeader_219069/]as a minimum. Global Moderators: We are looking for Global moderators interested in helping during scheduled discussions. You can read about the badge here [http://bit.ly/GroupModApp] Room Supporters: To offer support in the room, this can be via generally being present in the room or through helping with scheduled discussions. Discussion Writers: for discussion scripts on the CoVID-19 topic. Forum Forum Supporters: A role for people who regularly post in the CoVID forum to help support members and offer useful information to others. Find here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/QuarantineSupportCoronaVirusCoVID19_201/] our Quarantine Support (CoVID-19) forum! Other Leaders interested in helping with this project Ideas gurus __________________________________________ Click ‘here [https://forms.gle/GAoJNFxRrRoMTESz9] if you are interested in joining our team! If you have any questions, please send a message to @RicochetJaguar or @VickyP Thank you! If you would like to join the team, please review the CoVID chatroom rules here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupModZone_168/ASilentObserversOffice_2008/CoVID19SupportRoomUpdate_219343/] and CoVID forum guidelines here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/QuarantineSupportCoronaVirusCoVID19_201/QuarantineSupportCoronaVirusCoVID19_2054/CodeofConduct_217981/]! You can find answers to chatroom FAQs here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupSupport_168/ObsDesk_2008/FrequentlyAskedQuestionsGroupSupport_215692/].
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