EMT Lecture: Workforce Safety and Wellness

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0:02[Applause]

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0:10yeah okay all right so this is uh

0:13chapter 2 Workforce safety and wellness

0:15I'm also a walk person so I'm going to

0:18walk throughout this if that's okay with

0:19you guys um the first part of these

0:22chapters always talks about like kind of

0:24what we're going to go over it's just

0:25like any other presentation from a

0:27publisher or anything I'm sure that you

0:29guys have been exposed to too some of

0:31the things we'll talk about are

0:32infectious disease exposure um and then

0:35some of the like safety and well-being

0:37things uh that's really what this whole

0:39lecture is about is safety and

0:40well-being of First Responders and just

0:42making people kind of aware of the

0:44things that we encounter and also some

0:46of the risks associated with the job um

0:49again it might seem kind of kind of

0:51strange to bring this up on your guys'

0:54day one but again I kind of wish someone

0:55would have had these conversations with

0:57me especially with like the dealing with

0:58death death and dying

1:00Stress Management like that kind of

1:02stuff right um I am obviously not a

1:04counselor um but I am a longtime first

1:07responder and I have my own things that

1:09I've gone through that I'll share some

1:11of with you guys uh especially regarding

1:13you know like PTSD and stuff like that

1:15because that's kind of what we're

1:16talking about today um uh so when we

1:20when we talk about anything in medicine

1:22what do they say is like the first first

1:24rule it's Do no harm right that's the

1:27whole point Do no harm that's the oath

1:29that we take

1:30um and it it that conversation I had

1:32with you guys at the beginning when I

1:34was like hey you know like you're here

1:35to take care of people you're here to

1:38like be a medical provider and have that

1:40be your role you're not here to like

1:41judge people and stuff like that that's

1:43the point Do no harm right it's not just

1:45talking about medical harm it's talking

1:47also about like emotional harm

1:49inflicting like medical trauma stuff

1:50like that right do no harm is the whole

1:53point um it is very important though and

1:56this is kind of something we're getting

1:57better at uh taking care of ourselves

1:59right Do no harm to yourself as well is

2:02kind of how I look at it this job while

2:05it is in my opinion that it would be the

2:08best job if we didn't have to write

2:10charts everything in healthcare would be

2:13better if we didn't have to write charts

2:15um and you'll hear a lot of people say

2:16that they'd be like this is the best job

2:17in the world if you didn't have to write

2:18charts I do think this is the best job

2:20in the world however there are a ton of

2:22things that come up right as far as like

2:24personal issues that you might encounter

2:26man-made threats um you know you're

2:28going into people's homes homes you're

2:30going into literally any situation is

2:33fair game for us you have to accept that

2:36there's a certain degree of

2:37hypervigilance that you're going to have

2:38to have I'm sure the police officer can

2:40appreciate that that's a hard thing it

2:42changes you right it really does being

2:45aware all the time changes you um and

2:48that's one of the big things that you'll

2:49hear me talk about is hypervigilance

2:51hypervigilance is a beast it really is

2:53trying to combat that can be very

2:55difficult sometimes um some of this

2:57stuff you guys will uh if you did like a

2:59high school health class uh is probably

3:01going to ring a bell okay it's like

3:03nutrition here's like what health looks

3:05like I do think Health like this line

3:07right here is a complex interaction

3:09between physical mental and emotional

3:11need or uh connections I would also

3:13factor in like

3:14spiritual right so there's all kinds of

3:16different views of Health um someone

3:18might be spiritually um poor or

3:21unhealthy but be like physically healthy

3:24right um it just depends on the person

3:25that doesn't mean that because you know

3:27one person is fairly consistent in all

3:29areas that they're not still struggling

3:31I think if you think about health like

3:34this as a complex interaction between

3:37physical mental and emotional

3:38connections your patients will make a

3:40lot more sense to you if you consider

3:43that for your patients as well not just

3:45yourself a lot of your patients are

3:46looking for things like counseling right

3:48and when I say counseling I mean not

3:50like you know talk therapy I'm saying

3:51sometimes they just need someone to tell

3:52them it's okay to take til andol you

3:55know like that kind of stuff so it

3:56extends between you and your patients

3:58right if you acknowledge that um Health

4:01up here in your head spiritual emotional

4:05um uh mental whatever you know all of

4:08that it affects a lot of things and if

4:10you've ever had a psychiatric illness or

4:11something like that that manifested as

4:13something else like some kind of illness

4:15maybe you got sick a lot you know maybe

4:17you developed some weird symptom or

4:18whatever it's because health is not just

4:20your body health is your brain too

4:23anything chronic physical stress chronic

4:25fatigue emotional stress whatever is

4:27going to affect that you guys all know

4:28that uh this is one thing I do think is

4:31important to emphasize though uh UST

4:32stress versus distress have you guys

4:34heard of UST stress um I heard it in my

4:37high school health class um and that was

4:39when uh actually a really important

4:40conversation because UST stress versus

4:42distress a lot of people don't realize

4:44there's good and bad stress right like

4:46right now I might be stressed because I

4:48have my trip coming up right and I'm

4:50stressed about like okay I have to get

4:51my Visa I have to do all this this this

4:53that's a good stress right that's a good

4:56stress because I have something that I'm

4:57working towards and it those that stress

4:59is helping me achieve that goal that's

5:01fine finding the balance though is being

5:03able to recognize where you stress and

5:05distress come together right so like I'm

5:08I'm in a bit of distress right now when

5:10it comes to my trip because I'm also

5:12flying right we all know what's been

5:15going on with the the air system right

5:18that stresses me out that is distress

5:21cuz that's a threat to me right that's a

5:22threat to my well-being you can have the

5:25two interface you can have two of there

5:27like these things be present in most

5:29situation absolutely it's figuring out

5:31which one is stressful like distressing

5:33and which one is actually beneficial to

5:35you like towards your goals or whatever

5:37does that make sense figuring that out

5:39actually being able to say like this is

5:41a good stress that it's okay to be upset

5:43about changed a lot for me um it's

5:46picking your battles in a sense right um

5:49so uh resilience you guys know you know

5:52the word resilience it's kind of a

5:53buzzword right now resilience is so

5:56important there's the what ladies back

5:59bathroom right over here just so you

6:01know that that's what you're hearing is

6:03someone's getting paper towels um

6:05resilience is a big word for a lot of

6:06reasons and I think um resilience the

6:08word just kind of encapsulated what

6:10we've been trying to tell people for a

6:11long time resilience is um having a lot

6:14of fortitude right resilience means you

6:16can have things come your way and you

6:18can tolerate it uh coping skills things

6:20like that right someone who's a

6:21resilient person is one of those people

6:23who you know like uh what was that movie

6:25about the Olympian who was a

6:28p uh do you know what I'm talking about

6:30he went to the Olympics unbreakable

6:32unbreakable yeah um like that movie that

6:35that's that dude is about as resilient

6:37as it gets like if you saw his um like

6:39you looked it up in the dictionary his

6:40picture could be next to it right

6:42because he was able to cope with all the

6:44maybe well kind of you know he had his

6:46own stuff he dealt with but he pushed

6:47through he persevered that's what

6:49resilience is a lot of people don't

6:51realize though that resilience requires

6:53good habits it's not just people who can

6:55be like I can handle anything right it's

6:57people who say I can handle anything

6:58because I have this skills to do it

7:01right it's not just accepting all of

7:02that comes your way so that's resilience

7:05is much more than just being tolerant

7:07okay resilience is accepting and

7:09tolerating what's happening and then

7:11being able to process it you'll hear uh

7:13resilience come up especially with First

7:15Responders over and over but in mental

7:17health in general because resilience is

7:19part of what makes someone a more

7:20mentally um stable person when I say

7:23stable right I mean like they can handle

7:25their emotions they can interact with

7:26people communicate effectively things

7:28like that um um some things to help with

7:30this though and you're going to hear

7:31this over and over again um movement is

7:35always going to come up but building

7:36habits of mindfulness and positivity and

7:39then building relationships with peers

7:40and colleagues which I already talked to

7:41you guys about but what do you guys know

7:43about

7:47mindfulness mindfulness is your ability

7:49to live right

7:51now and it's super valuable and the

7:54reason this came up for me a lot my

7:56counselor counselors right uh one of

7:59their phrases one of their things

8:00mindfulness resilience coping skills

8:03you'll hear me say that stuff a lot cuz

8:04it's going to come up in this a ton

8:05right res um resilience factors into

8:08mindfulness right so if you're able to

8:10live right now it sounds cheesy that's

8:12part of what helps build a resilient

8:14person and actually helps combat like uh

8:17trauma responses too right if you can

8:19look at a situation and you can say you

8:21know what this sucks this sucks right

8:23now but it's not going to suck forever

8:25that's super important when you're on a

8:27really rough call like a really rough

8:30call one where you're like you know

8:31choking up fighting back tears kind of

8:33thing mindfulness is the only thing that

8:35got me through is being like this sucks

8:37right now but right now isn't forever

8:39right right now equals right now it

8:41doesn't mean the rest of my life it

8:42doesn't have to mean the rest of my life

8:44that's what mindfulness is um I wouldn't

8:47consider myself an inherently positive

8:50person if I'm being completely

8:51transparent with you I think I'm a

8:53little bit maybe too nihilistic

8:54sometimes um nihilism is basically just

8:57we're all going to die right um I

9:00appreciate that for a couple of reasons

9:02but I have to really like work towards

9:04being positive it's not easy for

9:06everybody to be positive it's really not

9:09um keep that in mind too not everyone's

9:11going to cope the same way as you

9:13especially when it comes to just being

9:14happy

9:15positive I'm not a bubbly person right

9:18but that doesn't mean that I'm not still

9:21okay you know it doesn't mean that I

9:22can't handle the things that come my way

9:23that's just not who I am okay my version

9:25of positive is different and I have to

9:27make my version of positive that's

9:29relevant to me right this is all about

9:31you and your experience okay so do

9:33what's best for you I'm just kind of

9:35pointing out some things that you can do

9:36along the way like practice mindfulness

9:38in

9:39particular um strategies to manage

9:41stress you guys know all of these and I

9:43think the kind of the the comical part

9:46of this is the fact that very few of

9:48these options are actually feasible for

9:50most of your 911 providers not just EMS

9:53in general we're talking fire and police

9:55as well uh minimize or eliminate

9:57stressors impossible

9:59uh while you're at work impossible right

10:01some of the stuff is more easily

10:02mitigated at home obviously um but we're

10:06kind of talking about on the job more

10:07than anything change Partners to avoid a

10:09negative or hostile personality I do

10:11agree with that but also you're going to

10:13work with negative and hostile patients

10:16right so you're going to have to learn

10:17how to deal with that anyways um if

10:19you've worked in Food

10:21Service uh

10:23sales you're probably going to be fine

10:26um people have probably said meaner

10:27things to you uh while you're at at the

10:29front counter um than people do in in

10:32ambulances I I told people and I still

10:34do people were meaner I was an assistant

10:36manager at Radio Shack for a bit I love

10:39Radio Shack people forget it was a place

10:41um and people said worse things to me

10:44just in my six months of being an

10:45assistant manager at Radio Shack than

10:47they did in the first couple of years of

10:48being on an ambulance which is wild um

10:51but that's why I say if you've had

10:53exposure to that like um you know trying

10:55to uh deescalate and things like that

10:58you you should be okay for the most part

11:01um especially when you're talking about

11:03partners that you've had for a long time

11:04it depends on your system you work in

11:06sometimes you get a partner that sticks

11:07with you for a very long time did you

11:09have a consistent partner on your

11:11ambulance I did yes yeah 24 hour show

11:14how long were how long were you guys

11:16together two

11:18years that's a long time that's a very

11:21very long time especially if you don't

11:23like someone right but um if it gets bad

11:26enough obviously use your HR or whatever

11:28that looks like for you as best you can

11:30try to work through it though because

11:31these skills are only going to help you

11:34um change work hours we can't do that uh

11:37we do 24hour shifts right dep I mean it

11:40depends on where you work some places do

11:4112 hours uh I've only worked 24s um

11:44that's pretty standard uh change the

11:46work environment that's all we do and

11:48that's part of what makes it fun right

11:50um but I do understand what they're

11:52saying here some people go to like inter

11:54facility transfer companies versus 911

11:56versus like flight medicine or something

11:58like that that maybe cers to them a

11:59little bit more I super support that um

12:03but if you're like you know working on

12:05an ambulance that's part of the nature

12:06of the job that's part of what makes it

12:07so fun and then cutting back on overtime

12:10uh we work overtime as a baseline so

12:12where that's going to tie in is maybe

12:14you shouldn't pick up mandatory overtime

12:16there's something in first the first

12:18responder world called mandate or

12:19mandatory overtime um depending on the

12:21state you work in depends on you know

12:23the legal implications of that as to

12:25what that looks like um we're a right to

12:27work state here in Idaho so they can't

12:29necessarily require us but if we sign an

12:32employment contract that obligates us to

12:34those hours and we're obligated to that

12:37right so my contract with um Ada County

12:39for example I worked 48 hours a week and

12:42that was my my contract so I got eight

12:44hours of overtime every week so 16 hours

12:47of overtime every pay period um that's

12:49what that's what we did right and then

12:51we changed our schedule to the modified

12:53Detroit and then it increased the hours

12:55right but that was the contract so that

12:57can only change so much

12:59um other things change your attitude

13:01about the stressor talk about your

13:03feelings go to counseling all of that

13:05stuff is great advice however this last

13:07bullet point I've been telling this

13:09people for years try to adopt a relaxed

13:12philosophical Outlook um find if you can

13:14if you haven't already find out at least

13:17some idea of what your spiritual or

13:18religious beliefs are um if you don't

13:20have a good foothold on that it can kind

13:22of shake you up a little bit when you're

13:23on some of these rough calls so I did a

13:26lot of soul searching when like I when I

13:29got into the field I was 20 you know I

13:31was I was quite young um I had a decent

13:33bit of life experience for other reasons

13:35and that did help me some um but I

13:37didn't have like a set religious belief

13:39um you know I grew up in the the

13:41Catholic Church um so I had that as my

13:44background but I didn't necessarily

13:45believe in it and I struggled a lot um

13:48that's nothing with the Catholic church

13:49right that's just my personal beliefs um

13:51I struggled with it a lot and then once

13:53I finally came to terms with that

13:54spiritual religious side of it it helped

13:56a ton if you're like spiritually

13:57confused this can be a little difficult

13:59of a job to get into so that's just my

14:02personal advice to you guys maybe do a

14:04little bit of soul searching when it

14:05comes to that figure out what you

14:06actually believe in you don't want to be

14:07on a call you know with like a and sorry

14:10we're going to talk about this stuff as

14:11well but like a dead baby or something

14:13like that for example you know and not

14:14have the coping skills and regardless of

14:17what you believe you that does tie or

14:19play a big role in tying to your coping

14:21skills a lot if you lean on like your

14:23faith or something so just my my Pro tip

14:26life tip for you okay maybe get a little

14:28bit more grounding in that if you don't

14:30have it um expand your social support

14:33system I my best friends in the world um

14:37don't work in EMS um I highly encourage

14:41that and I'm sure you're like yep it is

14:44so important that you have friends

14:47outside of this field otherwise you are

14:49at work all the time all the time you

14:53want to talk about it cuz it's cool

14:55right like I still find myself doing it

14:58when my co-workers show up up and you

14:59know we're just bsing it's like they

15:01tell me about a call and I'm like that's

15:03so cool you know and then I afterwards

15:05I'm like I need to like calm down you

15:08know because it just get spun up again

15:10that's one of the big things a

15:11connecting to the real world touch some

15:13grass right that's where your friends

15:15come in right my best friend in the

15:17world works for the Department of

15:19energy um you know like a paramedic and

15:22a an energy analyst um met and became

15:25friends and it's great because I don't

15:27know what she does truthfully I know she

15:29does a lot but she also doesn't know

15:30what I do you know and so it's nice

15:33because we can still talk about it but

15:34it's not like me running through calls

15:37um so have friends outside of the field

15:40um dating is its own thing dating in the

15:42field is a very common thing in this

15:44field in this area and when I say area I

15:46mean medicine in general but especially

15:48First Responders just consider that

15:51right uh the dating world with us is

15:53kind of unique um we work very chaotic

15:55schedules and all that and it can

15:57definitely um also factor and you know

15:59you go home you're still at work uh so

16:02these are all just things to think about

16:03okay um this one also cracks me up limit

16:07intake of caffeine alcohol and tobacco

16:10um I I don't meet very many people that

16:12don't have like uh religious or um like

16:15spiritual ideologies that don't support

16:17that kind of stuff um just people who go

16:20through life without any of these are

16:23impressive um they're like the Chris's

16:26they I it's amazing to me cuz most of

16:28what you find is that the majority of

16:30your First Responders use something in

16:32here definitely caffeine um to some

16:34extent if anything that's um I don't

16:36even want to say abused but caffeine's

16:38pretty heavily abused in the healthcare

16:40world you can abuse caffeine I promise

16:43um but those are quite common and we'll

16:45talk about substance abuse here in a

16:46little bit too um I'm not going to go

16:49over nutrition with you I'm not a

16:51nutritionist um the only thing that I

16:53can tell you is actually about shift and

16:56it's about your food um make sure you're

16:58bringing enough good food with you on

17:01shift like good food right what are you

17:03going to fuel fuel your body with and I

17:05hate saying that cuz it's so corny but

17:06you're working 24 hours you're working

17:0924 hours you're going to have to figure

17:10out what works for you um I personally

17:13abide by a high protein diet um

17:15especially when I'm on shift because

17:16protein helps with sugar right so um

17:19when you're on calls you're running

17:20backtack calls and your blood sugar

17:22starts to tank which happens all the

17:24time protein is really good for that so

17:26that's also just a tip for you if you're

17:28working long I don't have my

17:29protein shake but that's um that's a

17:31good option for you right it'll help

17:33carry you through the shift and it's

17:35just good for you right it's protein so

17:37that's all I have to add and it's just

17:39cuz when I was on shift there were so

17:40many calls where I'd be like oh my gosh

17:42I'm so hungry I'm so hungry I'm so

17:45thirsty so like having something like

17:46that and actually trying to maximize

17:48your food is going to help a ton uh

17:50fiber is a big part of that as well but

17:52again I'm not here to lecture you guys

17:53about nutrition exercise and relaxation

17:56obviously the two of them are very

17:57closely tied you can't um actually have

18:01exercise be good for you unless you

18:02relax right in order to relax you need

18:05to have some type of activity that kind

18:07of sort of wears you out or exercises

18:09your body or your mind you have to have

18:11that too okay um I was always a little I

18:15don't know I just don't like working out

18:19okay I don't like working out I'm tired

18:22of the gym dedication culture I want to

18:25be a piece of crap uh and be horizontal

18:28sometimes you know what I mean um I

18:31definitely pushed that and like the push

18:34back was real for me just cuz mostly I'm

18:36lazy um and when I say lazy you work

18:3824-hour shifts right you just want to

18:40hang out you don't want to do anything

18:43going for a hike with my dog after a

18:46stressful shift in particular really did

18:48make a difference and that's coming from

18:50someone who doesn't like working out

18:52okay um the other side of it though is

18:54that if you go to work for like the fire

18:55service um I believe that a lot of the

18:58police departments do this kind of thing

19:00too but they have um exercise

19:03requirements written into their

19:04employment contracts so like when you're

19:05on shift um with the fire department

19:07most of them will dedicate an hour to

19:09gym time so they encourage it um it's

19:13very important to stay fit in this job

19:15for a variety of reasons if you get

19:16hired anywhere you're going to have to

19:17do a physical fitness test um just try

19:20to stay as in as like healthy in as many

19:23areas as you can I know that's a blanket

19:25statement but like you don't have to be

19:27jacked right like I've done the cat

19:30before I did Ada couny hiring physical

19:33um I did one for each department I got

19:35hired at in general so I like and I'm a

19:38small petite person right maximize your

19:40body but don't push it if you don't have

19:42to right not everyone needs to be a

19:44bodybuilder just try to exercise your

19:46body move that's really what it comes

19:48down to I don't care what you do I like

19:49yoga I cannot tell you how many

19:52firefighters um I turned onto yoga um

19:57especially Hot Yoga cuz a

19:59firefighters are men and men need to

20:01stretch cuz y'all don't stretch y'all

20:04know what I'm talking about but also

20:06it's just relaxing right it just feels

20:08so good hot yoga is actually much nicer

20:10than people think it is it's hard but

20:13it's very relaxing and I ended up

20:14getting a whole crew of them together to

20:16go to to an actual hot yoga studio and

20:18we did a class and they were like whoa

20:20that kicked my butt and I was like yeah

20:22that's cuz it's y it's hot yoga and it

20:24will rock your world um but it's awesome

20:28it's a real really really soothing

20:29activity and I like it so this is one

20:32that I find super interesting you don't

20:34have to answer the question if you don't

20:35want to but does anybody feel like they

20:37actually get good like a good decent

20:41sleep most

20:45nights I haven't seen you have or you do

20:49oh good for you you must have excellent

20:51sleep

20:52hygiene going on screen Bingo okay so uh

20:57the reason I ask is because that's the

20:59typical response right the majority of

21:01people are like not me right I still

21:03don't um I worked in EMS during like

21:07important formative years I'm pretty

21:08sure I did some some brain damage uh to

21:11myself by going into EMS when I was so

21:13young um but like sleep schedules are

21:15still a problem for me they have been my

21:17whole life but it doesn't help that I

21:19was waking up you know whatever hours

21:21for a 24-hour shift that's the big thing

21:24right and what she just said for Sleep

21:26hygiene you'll hear people talk about

21:27that a lot sleep hygiene practices are

21:29super important um and we'll talk about

21:32that in a second but uh 7 to9 hours is

21:35the recommended um amount of sleep just

21:39as a blanket statement it changes for

21:41women and men uh there was a study that

21:43just came out that showed that men get

21:45six to8 hours and they're pretty good

21:47women need around 8 to

21:4910 um and the thought behind that from

21:51what I understand is that men's hormone

21:53Cycles are around 24 hours women's are

21:55around 28 days so if you wonder why we

21:57need more sleep it's because we are

21:59going through a month-long hormone cycle

22:01and it really is exhausting for us um

22:04our bodies are doing a lot of work so

22:06especially for women this can be kind of

22:08hard um if you're talking about certain

22:09times of the month as well like in

22:11certain parts of your cycle it can

22:13really affect it as well so um the what

22:16is it third uh 18 hours of No Sleep is

22:20the same as drunk driving um that was

22:24that was every shift right that was

22:27every shift for us um so I do think that

22:30that's um not a healthy standard

22:33obviously then that's probably one of

22:34the reason that 24-hour shifts won't

22:37probably be around forever you know what

22:39I mean unless it's like a like low

22:41volume maybe more rural system but in

22:44general those 24-hour shifts you spend

22:46the majority of it awake um the nice

22:49thing though is that a lot of agencies

22:51um this because this say takes or take

22:5320 to 30 minute naps a lot of agencies

22:55encourage safety naps um that's what

22:57they're called cuz they are safety naps

23:00right so what's happening um at this 20

23:02to 30 minute Mark 20 to 30 minutes is

23:05about where you get that um energy and

23:08the increase in Focus if you're sleeping

23:09like 2 to three hours you're paying off

23:11a sleep debt um that's not as much for

23:13clarity okay that's for like you owe

23:16that to your body kind of thing so keep

23:18that in mind as a dedicated sleep person

23:23in general I love to sleep um the 2 to

23:27three hour naps are not always it okay

23:30um like the agencies I've worked out

23:32when you were on shift if you if you had

23:34the opportunity like our uh Battalion

23:36Chiefs used to come up to us all the

23:37time and be like you guys should go nap

23:40why not you know like when you're not on

23:41calls most agencies kind of let you do

23:43your thing unless you're in the fire

23:44service they might have like a training

23:45schedule we do too but um not quite as

23:48as relaxed ambulances are standardly

23:50much more busy than fire engines so when

23:53we get sleep time we take the sleep time

23:55okay um engage in mental exercise our

23:58job um and I had someone bring this up

24:00and it was a really good point they're

24:02like our job is mental exercise sure it

24:04is it absolutely is it's a great mental

24:06exercise you know what is an even better

24:08mental exercise it doesn't require

24:09seeing dead people learning a new

24:12language right that's called

24:14neuroplasticity and it's important

24:16because when you go through trauma like

24:18we go through your brain does not get

24:20better at its job it gets better at

24:22being

24:23traumatized you know what I mean so it's

24:25not like oh I'm becoming desensitized to

24:27it it's like or you are becoming

24:29desensitized to it but it's not that

24:30you're getting better at it it's that

24:31your body is just recognizing it and not

24:34letting you feel maybe or like your

24:35brain is right the body keeps score so

24:38it's still going to happen Okay do

24:40something that is mental exercise not

24:42EMS um I have a lot of co-worker or had

24:45a lot of co-workers that

24:47knit there are a lot of women um that I

24:50worked with at my old Department that

24:51knit and it's it's hilarious to me

24:53because they'll just be sitting there

24:55watching TV knitting and I think that's

24:57great I started um learning sign

24:59language um I did a little bit of time

25:00with like Japanese uh just to entertain

25:03myself right because this job is mental

25:05exercise but it's not it's mental

25:07exercise within this box okay you need

25:10to be able to open up your actual whole

25:12mind for the exercise part of it um

25:15other things like um and remind me of

25:17your name again Taylor Taylor so other

25:19things Taylor was or like Taylor was

25:21alluding to sleep hygiene right screen

25:24time um I keep the blue light filter on

25:26my phone all the time it's never off um

25:29the normally on here I can't tell if

25:31it's on with the it's on my uh my screen

25:33at least with the blue light filter for

25:35that cuz screen time is just awful in

25:37general um but that what is it blue

25:40light in particular makes you think that

25:41you're awake so it messes up your

25:43circadian rhythm um definitely important

25:45it's supposed to be a couple of hours

25:47before you go to bed um it's not just 20

25:50to 30 minutes um but also getting into a

25:52pre-sleep routine I used to clean the

25:55station clean up the station every night

25:56before I went to bed so when everybody

25:58was asleep I'd throw my headphones on

26:00I'd go start the dishwasher run any

26:02towels that needed to be run clean

26:04anything that needed it and then I'd go

26:06to sleep and that made a big difference

26:07for me but I like routine right when it

26:09comes to stuff like that that works well

26:11for me I highly encourage that when

26:13you're on shift you need some degree of

26:14normaly even if it's just a couple of

26:17little habits that you do do them every

26:18day it will help with adjusting to

26:21things you have to have some routine

26:24right um try not to drink caffeine

26:27obviously if you can a lot of the fire

26:29stations have blackout uh curtains which

26:31are awesome love those um if not you

26:34know try to keep it as dark as possible

26:36that it plays a big role as well um

26:39exercising is good um making sure you're

26:41hydrated it's also important when we're

26:44talking about hydration it's not just

26:45chugging water right it's making sure

26:47you have electrolytes with it water

26:49doesn't mean anything if you don't have

26:50salt to tell it where to go okay so make

26:53sure you're consuming your electrolytes

26:54as well um don't watch the clock uh um

26:59sleep only when you're actually tired

27:00bored sleeping is a thing I do it a

27:03lot it's not a it's not restorative

27:06usually it doesn't do much for you in

27:08the way of actually like trying to get

27:10good sleep so try to only sleep when

27:12you're actually tired so we'll get into

27:14disease prevention a little bit um the

27:17you'll hear me uh talk about like fire

27:19versus EMS versus police a lot because

27:21again they're very very different

27:24however some of the themes remain the

27:26same um I think the police force in

27:28general um thanks to the fop especially

27:31and like uh whatever associations they

27:34have um a lot of them have like

27:38um like contracts that they basically

27:40make with um employers for whatever

27:42reason we're talking unions here for the

27:44most part right um when it comes to like

27:46disease prevention health promotion

27:48they're basically saying like that thing

27:50I was telling you guys when it comes to

27:51working out on shift right we want you

27:53guys to stay healthy here's the things

27:55we're going to do for you um working for

27:57Ada County in particular we had a gym um

28:00like an Ada County employee gym that we

28:02it was free we could go to that um

28:04terrible gym not a very good one um but

28:09like the other thing too though right

28:10like um they offer Counseling Services

28:12much of the time so the employee

28:14assistance program is the best utilize

28:17your EAP employee assistance program

28:19when you get hired somewhere it's there

28:21for this reason okay the employee

28:23assistance programs are there to make

28:25your life better um and a lot of uh

28:28especially if you go to work for like a

28:29city or local government like most of us

28:30around here do they'll have things like

28:32this you know like things to prevent or

28:34things to help with like addiction let's

28:37say you're an alcoholic and you go to

28:38your Chief you're like hey I need help

28:40they'll put you through things like this

28:42um that's the beauty of having those EAP

28:44programs utilize them they're super

28:46valuable um obviously any type of

28:49nicotine is going to have a ton of

28:50implications behind it especially

28:52cardiovascular if you're running into a

28:54burning building you probably don't need

28:55to be introducing other things into your

28:58lungs right number one killer of

29:00firefighters is what cancer cancer yep

29:04second is cardiovascular so for those of

29:06you who said that um you're and it it

29:08might actually be flipped I'm pretty

29:09sure it's cancer though um regardless

29:11it's one of those two cardiovascular or

29:13cancer um they don't know about

29:15paramedics because we all die and then

29:17they don't do autopsies on us

29:19uh yeah I I'm just kidding I don't know

29:22why but um firefighters like a big thing

29:24with that is cancer right it's usually

29:25because of what you're getting exposed

29:26to with the chemicals so

29:28um in particular fire departments have a

29:30lot of prophylactic programs for like

29:32hey here's how you can help prevent Lung

29:34Cancer and things like that right so the

29:35whole point is to just try to help

29:37people have a better life as an employee

29:40alcohol abuse and substance abuse do

29:42happen again um You probably have a

29:44cooworker or had a cooworker at some

29:46point somewhere that was a closet

29:48alcoholic or a closet drug user um you

29:51might not know right but it's also um

29:53when you get into the field and you

29:54develop a partner um someone or partners

29:57that you work with with a ton you're

29:58going to get to know them right it's

30:00it's actually much more um easy to tell

30:02an alcoholic like a closet alcoholic or

30:04drug user um when you spend time around

30:06them than a lot of people think right

30:08especially when you're on shift so the

30:10only reason I bring that up is looking

30:12out for each other um a big thing in

30:14this job is self-medicating

30:16um unfortunately so when it comes to

30:19alcohol abuse we'll talk about alcohol

30:21abuse and substance abuse at length um

30:23in the medical unit um just know that

30:26alcohol is a known carcin

30:29it's one of the only guaranteed

30:30carcinogens that we know of for sure it

30:33causes cancer alcohol does we know that

30:36okay so I mean I I'm not judging anybody

30:38for drinking either I'm just saying it's

30:40a slippery slope um alcohol is one of

30:42the only legal things that people can

30:44use right when I say legal I mean we're

30:46talking you work for the government you

30:48can only use substances that are legal

30:50for the government so alcohol is a

30:52common one um but when it comes to drug

30:55use uh what you'll find is a lot of

30:57people people um I don't know very many

31:00people who honestly like abuse drugs

31:02like like what may maybe you would

31:05encounter on calls you know that level

31:07but there are definitely people that

31:08maybe have a slippery slope with like

31:10their Aderall prescription right or

31:12maybe like their pain prescription or

31:14something like that so substance abuse

31:16is not just like oh you're going and

31:18buying heroin from the gas station right

31:20it's anything that you have a dependency

31:23on that you lack control over so that's

31:26important to remember because especially

31:28when you're talking about people who are

31:29traumatized in a sense right traumatized

31:31people are very vulnerable and

31:33substances feel good okay that's where

31:36mental health comes in a big part of

31:38mental health a lot of agencies have

31:40programs to help with drug abuse and

31:42alcohol abuse and things like that for

31:44what it's worth I haven't encountered

31:46too many people um too many of my

31:48co-workers I do have one cooworker um

31:51that did have an alcohol problem they um

31:55went to one of our superiors talked to

31:57them about it they put them through the

31:59program um like a rehab Program help

32:01they didn't like put them through it

32:02like pay for it but they helped

32:04facilitate it and they went back to work

32:07so that's what they want okay so just be

32:09honest with people especially if it's

32:10about something like this and you feel

32:12like you can you don't have to go

32:13through it alone you really

32:14don't um and I know it's not that easy

32:18but still you don't have to um balance

32:21everything take vacations when you can

32:23that's basically what that means right

32:25even if it's a station get out of the

32:27city get out of the city go to Swan

32:29Falls Camp down there something like

32:31that go up to bogus and face the other

32:33side don't face boisey right face the

32:36other side face the beautiful green

32:38expansive area back there just get out

32:40don't see this or wherever you work

32:43right I made a point to do that quite a

32:44bit when I worked here cuz I lived where

32:46I worked and that's a special kind of

32:48hell um in particular especially when

32:50you work somewhere for a long time like

32:52I did um now infectious and communicable

32:55diseases um you guys probably know what

32:58communicable diseases are if you've

32:59heard that term it's just anything that

33:00spreads person to person um or from one

33:03species to another it just means it

33:04spreads okay so um we're going to talk

33:07about this for the next few slides um as

33:10far as immunizations go um it depends

33:13like where you go to work you are going

33:14to be required to have IM immunizations

33:16unless you have like the I believe it's

33:18a religious exemption um is the common

33:21one um but for the most part it's just

33:23like any other health field right you're

33:25going to have to present your

33:26immunizations um Pro tip for you guys uh

33:29just right now while you're in school

33:31try to find your vaccine records if you

33:33don't have them uh get a hold of them or

33:36go get like your boosters get your

33:37titers drawn whatever it is locate your

33:40immunization records um it can be a

33:43massive pain to try and find them last

33:45minute and I know that cuz I lost my

33:47immunization card my mom's house fire so

33:49I had to go get six booster

33:51shots in one

33:53day um and it was awful so find them now

33:57okay

33:58um protective techniques and handwashing

34:00that's pretty straightforward um

34:02protective techniques are like right

34:04coughing into your elbow some

34:06terminology though pathogen

34:08contamination exposure PPE pathogen is

34:11something that um activates your immune

34:13response right your immune system's like

34:15oh hello you are here now um and you are

34:18a pathogen that's what that does it just

34:20alerts them contamination is when

34:22something has had exposure whatever kind

34:25of exposure that means to a pathogen and

34:27and that exposure means you've

34:29encountered it right maybe you breathed

34:32the same air as someone who coughed into

34:33it or maybe you got blood on you you had

34:35some kind of interaction with that and

34:37the way that you try to prevent that is

34:39with PPE or personal protective

34:41equipment I am a PP fiend um I love PPE

34:47for the most part um I'll tell stories

34:48of why that is um throughout the class

34:51but cannot support PPE enough I'm a bit

34:54of a dweeb about it but I like it and

34:56I'll explain why different routes

34:59include um these will come up in your

35:02National Registry and on your benchmarks

35:04for me quite a bit so I would encourage

35:06you to review this um or just like at

35:09least get comfortable with it um direct

35:11contact would be um let's say you get

35:14blood on you right um an indirect

35:17contact is a needle stick for example

35:19and the reason that's not a direct

35:20contact is because you're not

35:21encountering it like you do if you get

35:23blood on you the only contact is because

35:26of the needle other wise it wouldn't

35:28have made contact right so it's indirect

35:30by those means Airborne is like you're

35:33sneezing foodborn is contaminated food

35:36Vector borne would be any of your bugs

35:37fleas ticks um bed bugs uh bed bugs are

35:42a big 911 thing the little creepy

35:44crawlies definitely come up some I'm

35:47sorry to tell you if anything in this

35:49lecture that's probably the most

35:50Discerning um it might be that um if you

35:53ever had a bed bug exposure before it

35:55can be a real pain um to try and like

35:57Decon in area or

35:59whatever so you guys um will get a lot

36:04of exposure through your agencies that

36:06you go to work for or maybe you have

36:07already to this um this information this

36:09is just your PPE and the CDC gives us

36:12these guidelines for you know here's the

36:14PPE that we offer um or that we have and

36:18not offer sorry that we have and here's

36:20when it's ideal to use it right um when

36:23you're putting on your PPE you are

36:25Dawning it when you're taking it off

36:27you're doing

36:29it I don't know why that comes up um but

36:32when you hear uh when we're talking

36:33about putting something on taking it off

36:35it's Dawning and doing um that's like uh

36:38the fire service uses it as well um at

36:40least when I was there there was a lot

36:41of the dawning your PP or Dawning your

36:43SCBA Doling your um equipment

36:46whatever um however you take let's say

36:51you're like the covid get up right

36:53you've got the surgical mask the eye

36:55proo um the Gown all that stuff there is

36:57an order for which you have to take it

36:59off I don't expect you to know that just

37:00be aware um they'll put your agency will

37:03put you through an infection control

37:05class where they walk through all of

37:06this stuff with you guys for how they

37:08expect you to maintain their standards

37:10guarantee they're just going to tell you

37:12the same thing because we all follow the

37:13CDC unless they have something in

37:16particular that they want you to

37:18know um so Hand hygiene um this is just

37:21washing your hands get under your

37:24fingernails right make sure you're

37:25getting in between your fingers um um

37:27use soap a lot of soaps these days from

37:30what I understand are are made to work

37:32with cold water I don't totally

37:34understand how that works but someone

37:36did tell me that I don't understand it

37:38so I apologize I can't answer that only

37:41thing I want to stress on this um is

37:44that hand sanitizer you can only use it

37:46I think it's like two times in between

37:48your hand washing I think that's what

37:50the CDC encourages so um if your hands

37:52are soiled you cannot use hand sanitizer

37:55you got to wash them okay hand sanitizer

37:57just doesn't do anything for material or

38:00content okay it's just for the viruses

38:02and bacteria and whatever else it

38:03doesn't handle puke or poop or

38:07blood um all right gloves uh most of

38:10what you're going to find are nitrol

38:11gloves over there these are I don't know

38:14what these are um these are like cleaner

38:16gloves that you buy from Walmart when

38:18you clean a really sketchy bathroom

38:20right that's what these are for ours are

38:22much more fitted we do use Nitro like I

38:24said latex is pretty much nowhere in

38:26healthcare anymore than aware of it's

38:28still in like some places but it's not a

38:31a thing that we put that or not a thing

38:33that we expose people to as much as we

38:35possibly can because a lot of people

38:37have latex allergies myself included um

38:40it's a very very common thing so nitrol

38:41is what you'll find vinyl gloves are are

38:44fine I don't like them but nital again

38:47is the standard um you should always at

38:49least have gloves at the very very very

38:53least have your gloves if you go on a

38:55call without gloves that's that that's a

38:57little unhinged okay and it's quite

39:00inappropriate because how are you going

39:02to help without potentially exposing

39:04yourself right you should be prepared to

39:06help I don't care how or when you put

39:08your gloves on just have gloves

39:09available and have a backup pair um for

39:12me personally my left um pocket was my

39:15glove pocket and then my left calf

39:17pocket was my large glove pocket so I ke

39:20kept Smalls it here so I could just

39:22reach in and grab it and then if I

39:24needed to because either a glove broke

39:26or I couldn't put a fresh pair of gloves

39:27on cuz my hands were sweaty I have had a

39:30pair of mediums that I would just slip

39:31over um I don't encourage that but when

39:34a glove tears on like a trauma patient

39:36like a really bloody one you have to do

39:37what you have to do so that's at the

39:39very very least gloves um I'm also an

39:43eye proo person um my the running joke

39:46kind of was that I always had a pair of

39:48glasses on I always had my eye Pro up

39:50here with my sunglasses on I or did you

39:53do the same thing was

39:55more a lot of C do that that I've seen

39:58they do the exact same thing they'll

40:00swap out between their I proo and then

40:02their glasses like their

40:03sunglasses um I glasses like glasses

40:07that you wear are not rated for PPE okay

40:10so if you want you can get prescription

40:12um I proo but it's expensive so it is an

40:15option I never did it cuz I wear

40:17contacts um but I Pro is the way to go

40:20for me my reason for that is because you

40:23don't know when people are going to

40:24cough on you you don't know when people

40:27are going to cough up blood on you or

40:30puke on you or whatever right your eyes

40:33nose mouth ears our mucus membranes

40:35they're an introduction to the inside of

40:37your body that's how things get to you

40:39okay that's why you protect them so

40:41protect your eyes especially for blood

40:43because we deal with a lot of blood

40:44splatter um I would loved would have

40:47loved to have a gown during my field

40:50delivery that I did um but that wasn't

40:53feasible um so gowns are not always

40:55ideal for us if you're on like any of

40:58these the a field delivery major trauma

41:00totally a gown is cool but wearing a

41:02full gown um while you're trying to do

41:05things in somebody's house you know not

41:07like an operating room or something is

41:09quite difficult so if you have the gowns

41:12great but they're more for like the

41:13super messy

41:14stuff this is a respirator um this is

41:18different from an

41:19n95 um in because this actually has the

41:22respirator right here um but you guys

41:24are probably used to the n95s this is a

41:27pocket mask that a lot of people keep

41:29like in their cars and stuff for CPR

41:31this is also or it's a barrier device so

41:34that if you're on a you know you're at

41:36wo or whatever and for whatever reason

41:38you have this on you if you give breaths

41:40to someone it's a

41:41oneway so this is nice because if they

41:44vomit yall right yeah just wrong tube

41:48yeah um this right here is a valve so if

41:52they puke or something and it's coming

41:53up through the mask it's not going to go

41:55up because that valve is going to close

41:57so that's just another thing we don't

41:58use these in the field um not that any

42:01agency I'm aware of but this is

42:02something you might uh might encounter

42:05that people have on like in their

42:06personal vehicles or something like that

42:08it is still a very valuable piece of um

42:12of PPE though um Sharps if there's a

42:15needle put it in a Sharps immediately

42:18okay immediately that should be your

42:20rule I have seen far too many people get

42:23needle sticks because they're

42:25lazy put it in the sharp s immediately I

42:28have very very very little Grace towards

42:32people who don't do that it's why right

42:34it's a needle it's a needle put it in

42:36the sharps right

42:38afterwards um so no employer can

42:41guarantee a 100% safe environment um I

42:44don't think OSHA is aware of First

42:47Responders or aware of what we actually

42:50do because nothing that we do is OSHA

42:53compliant um I don't even know where we

42:55fall into that kind of thing because

42:57like a risk assessment analysis changes

42:59with each call right you have your risk

43:02going to the call just driving there

43:04while you're interacting in the whatever

43:06the home the grocery store and then you

43:09have the interaction or then you the

43:11transport to the hospital then you're at

43:13the hospital there's tons of

43:14opportunities for things to happen okay

43:17if you are acting safely and you talk to

43:20the people that you need to talk to like

43:21your infection control officer it's

43:23going to be okay all right but you have

43:24to talk to them okay um especially if

43:27you're talking about like workman's comp

43:29things like that if you get injured you

43:30talk to someone

43:32immediately okay immediately big sister

43:36advice right now also longtime first

43:38responder advice you get hurt you stop

43:41what you're doing you call your

43:43supervisor okay workman's comp in this

43:45job in particular does not obligate you

43:47to getting hurt okay I have a shoulder

43:50injury that I got um while I was at work

43:52and it still bugs me and it's going to

43:54continue to bug me forever cuz now I'm a

43:56part of the hert shoulders club and

43:58humans have terrible shoulders compared

44:00to like every other species ours are

44:02just awful they have good Mobility but

44:04no like such little structure anyways um

44:08clean your ambulance clean your

44:09ambulance like your grandma your child

44:14your sick best friend whatever is going

44:16to be the next patient in that

44:19ambulance that's how you should view it

44:21those gurns like that one back there can

44:23be pretty much completely taken apart

44:25and pressure washed

44:27clean it you'll see um you can't see it

44:30right now but um it's right next to that

44:31plan I'll grab it another day but there

44:33are these

44:34cleaners um they're your purple tops

44:36orange tops gray tops whatever they they

44:38clean different things some refer

44:40bacteria some refer um uh bleach in

44:44particular like for MRSA or seiff I

44:46believe that's what we use for those

44:48different cleaners for different things

44:49follow your infection control plan okay

44:51whatever your agency tells you to do

44:53follow it clean that ambulance like your

44:55loved one could be the next patient

44:57because your loved one could be the next

44:59patient right as as surreal and awful as

45:02that is to think about it could happen

45:05so treat it like that the nice thing

45:07though is that um the majority of people

45:10that we encounter will have some kind of

45:12immunity and when I say the majority of

45:13people there are populations of people

45:15that have their religious

45:17exemptions um some people can't get them

45:19because of like an autoimmune disease

45:21like little kids in particular that's

45:23the other reason you clean your

45:24ambulance okay not everybody who goes in

45:27there has the ability to cope with the

45:29things that they might encounter like a

45:31cancer patient is like Mera or seiff

45:35sedi will wipe out the average person

45:37because it's so aggressive you imagine

45:40that like a cancer patient getting that

45:41that could be a death sentence for them

45:44okay so please keep it very clean these

45:46are very vulnerable people and some of

45:48them don't have immunity like the rest

45:50of us that got our immunizations do keep

45:52that in

45:53mind um I didn't know there was a

45:56chicken pox vaccine for a long time I

45:58got we had chickenpox parties when I was

46:00a kid you know what I mean so that was

46:03my immunity we did herd immunity back in

46:06the '90s and 2000s by saying you have

46:09chickenpox all your siblings are going

46:11to get Chickenpox too and you're all

46:13going to go through it

46:14together which was awful um but these

46:17are the common ones you'll encounter

46:19Tdap MMR um influenza if you go to work

46:22in a hospital they'll likely um or well

46:26anywhere they'll like just pay for it

46:27and do it for you like Ada County does

46:30uh you don't have to get it most of the

46:31time um but it's just it's nice cuz a

46:34lot of people or a lot of agencies just

46:36have it and then they do like a big

46:38thing where they just do like a mass

46:39vaccine which is quite handy for us when

46:42you're talking about 911 and how

46:43inconvenient it is right um and

46:46tuberculosis if you have not had a TB

46:48test um agencies usually require one

46:50within 3 months of getting hired um I

46:53had to do them pretty consistently

46:54because some of the populations I worked

46:56with had

46:57tuberculosis um if th this is an n95 at

47:01the very least okay I don't care how you

47:04guys feel about covid with PPE that was

47:07a just disaster for a lot of reasons

47:10when I'm talking about PPE guys like I'm

47:12telling you these are the things that

47:13you need to be doing this is none of

47:15like the the political stuff right this

47:18is hey if you go on a TB patient and

47:20they cough and you don't have an n95

47:23respirator you will likely get a TB

47:25exposure

47:27like very very likely and TB lives in

47:29you for a very long time it's not worth

47:31it right just wear the mask is it cute

47:35no especially not if you wear it with I

47:38proo take it from me cuz that's how I

47:41looks right it's not it's not about that

47:43right it's about your safety also you're

47:45going home you're going home what you

47:47have on you on your person on your

47:49clothes on your boots when you go home

47:51is going to your family now so keep that

47:54in mind as

47:55well um if you get get exposed to

47:57something I already talked about this

47:58talk to your infection control

48:00officer um whatever they want to do um

48:04again they usually follow the CDC

48:06guidelines some agencies have extra

48:08things they want to do because it's like

48:11uh not just maybe an agency thing but

48:12it's a state thing you know maybe they

48:14require this check up in 3 months um I

48:17had an exposure uh to an HIV patient and

48:20I had to go get my blood work done uh

48:22like like once a month for 6 months then

48:25it was like uh once every 6 months and

48:28then it was once a year and now I'm done

48:30um so I don't have to worry about it but

48:31that kind of thing I had to do it and

48:33even if I didn't work there anymore they

48:35still have to provide that for me cuz I

48:37sustain that exposure at work so that is

48:40nice too though they are required to

48:41take care of you in that

48:43case so we are going to talk a lot about

48:45scen safety but the big point I want to

48:48stress on here and the officer in the

48:50room can absolutely back this is that we

48:53rely on the police for a ton um at least

48:56here locally I'm not sure what you

48:57encountered um I relied on the police

49:00for a lot of things and it wasn't like a

49:02I'm going to call my mom sometimes it

49:04was like that right cuz mom being the

49:06police officers with the on their side

49:10you know like that's a little that's a

49:12little um emphatic it's going to be like

49:15all right you're not going to listen to

49:16me I'm going to call in call in my

49:19support and you're definitely probably

49:20going to listen to them right I don't

49:22like using the police as like um

49:24leverage or anything like that but

49:26sometimes we kind of have to otherwise

49:28their main job is to keep us safe I

49:30cannot begin to tell you how many police

49:32officers have gotten in the way of me

49:35getting

49:36hurt like truly and I it's a very de

49:39like I will make fun of the police

49:42relentlessly I pick on them all the time

49:44however I have a huge soft spot in my

49:46heart um because a lot of the cops that

49:48I know that like did jump in front of me

49:50have families you know they have kids

49:53they have spouses they go home to

49:55whatever so um police are a big resource

49:57especially here also firefighters you

50:00know um and if you're a firefighter use

50:02your ambulance providers you know your

50:04amts your Medics use us for what we can

50:06we need to use each other um especially

50:08recognizing though that um the scene um

50:11when you're on a scene with your partner

50:13you are no no longer just yourself you

50:15are in a

50:16partnership your partner is an extension

50:19of you you don't do anything that could

50:21compromise their safety or your safety

50:23right you don't leave them alone if you

50:26can right you don't leave them with

50:28questionable patience if it's a young

50:29woman like me um it was dexon right or

50:33sorry Jones um let's say he um how tall

50:37are you 511 to 510 depending that's

50:41taller than me um so I'll take that um

50:43let's say he's super aggressive he's

50:45hopped up on meth or something like that

50:47right I'm a very vulnerable person on

50:49that call because I'm small I'm probably

50:52the only female um and I mean I'm also

50:55just a target people people I look

50:57different right cuz I'm a a chick in a

50:59uniform easy for me to be a Target and a

51:02lot of people protect me on calls and I

51:04do feel kind of bad for that but also I

51:07protect them right if someone swings on

51:09one of my one of my um officers on scene

51:12or one of my firefighters you're going

51:13to get sedated if that's appropriate you

51:15don't get to hurt my people you know

51:17that it's that kind of thing I'm not

51:19saying I'm like oh you hurt my friends

51:20needle you know I'm I'm not saying that

51:23but I'm saying like it's also my job to

51:25protect them right and the J the way I

51:27protect them is a little different than

51:28how they might protect me okay but we

51:30look out for each other and we'll talk

51:31about scene hazards a lot um Hazmat is

51:34one of them has hazardous materials I

51:36don't mess with that at all that stuff

51:39is scary I love chemistry but not this

51:42kind of chemistry um we'll go through

51:44some of it like I said throughout the

51:46class but electricity who do we call if

51:48there's a an electrical event Idaho

51:52Idaho Power yeah so if you call the fire

51:55service they're going to go Okay click

51:57hello Idaho Power right gas lines

52:00anything like that they call Inner

52:01Mountain so um the fire department in

52:04particular isn't just the handyman

52:05catchall um they're just a resource that

52:08can actually specify who needs to come

52:10to a scene especially for scene hazards

52:12obviously we have people for

52:15this um vehicle crashes um 30% of your

52:19infield deaths or I shouldn't say 30

52:22yeah it's the majority um if you die uh

52:25while you're in in service like on duty

52:28most likely because you're at a traffic

52:30stop and you get

52:32hit why rubber necks right people want

52:35to look at what's going on First

52:37Responders get hit all the time when I

52:39say all the time I don't mean like every

52:40day kind of thing you know but it's a

52:42common occurrence and is one of the

52:43thing and is the top thing that kills us

52:45please be careful on the side of the

52:47road wear your safety vests okay where

52:50your safety vests they're not cute

52:52either I'm aware of that especially if

52:54you have I proo and a mask on but you

52:56should right safety vests are

52:58non-negotiable for me if I had Partners

53:00or anybody on a scene that wasn't

53:02wearing them I went up and I told them

53:04hey you need to put your safety vest on

53:06um it's also a legal requirement so uh

53:09we're not going to get too much into the

53:11scenes of violence um we'll talk about

53:14this throughout the class because

53:16there's just too many layers to it

53:17there's a difference with like traumatic

53:19brain injuries right you can have a

53:20combative head injury versus a

53:22behavioral subject versus someone who

53:24has an a severe infection that is now

53:26agitated the big point that I want to

53:29get across with violent subjects um or

53:32violent situations in general is it kind

53:34of depends on what you're dealing with

53:36obviously um we don't have many riots

53:40here in boisee um I've worked a number

53:42of the protests we have and I'm talking

53:44about boisey here because this is where

53:46I've lived in or I live and work right

53:49um but even just in Idaho in general

53:51obviously some of this we're not going

53:52to encounter too much um we would love

53:54to say we don't have active shooter

53:55situations here but unfortunately we've

53:57kind of bridged or crossed that right we

54:00had our mall shooting a couple years or

54:02a few years ago gosh three three years

54:05ago something like that now obviously

54:07not to the level of a lot of other

54:09places but everything is fair game we're

54:12still you know it doesn't matter where

54:13you are all of these things are fair I

54:15don't have much experience with hostage

54:18I did very very little tacmed um

54:20tactical paramedicine very little bit of

54:22it um but again that's more where you're

54:24working with like your Sheriff's Office

54:26um highrisk warrant deliveries things

54:28like that you might do like tactical

54:29paramedicine stuff where you go along

54:31with the SWAT team otherwise if you're

54:33on a call um assaults are the big one

54:36Mass violence is a potential for sure um

54:40but more so um that it doesn't talk

54:42about as much interactions with uh

54:44people on calls uh family members during

54:47the

54:48holidays yeah uh people throw hands on

54:51the holidays like they and when I say

54:53Throw hands I mean like they assault

54:54each other quite violently um it's just

54:57a thing I don't get it um my family is

55:00we play board games and then we don't

55:01talk to each other you know so I'm not

55:04saying we're better than anybody but

55:05I've seen a lot of these like family get

55:07togethers during the holidays in

55:08particular where it's violent right and

55:10then you're like you know you can

55:11appreciate this again sorry to reference

55:13you so much but having to have like move

55:15people out right you have so many people

55:17in a scene that are pissed off at each

55:19other right how do you try to uh diffuse

55:22this situation that's where it gets

55:24hairy to me is when you have very

55:26passionate like family members around

55:28that are maybe a little heated stuff

55:30like that that are maybe don't have the

55:32same control that they normally would

55:34like the death of a child or something

55:35like

55:36that um as far as pre preventing

55:39violence you're going to have to develop

55:40your own skills for that it is an art

55:42form to deescalate people I'm a big fan

55:45of removing of just saying you know what

55:48you go here you go here we're going to

55:50be uh we're going to go to timeout for a

55:52second obviously you don't say that to

55:53people but that's kind of what it is

55:55right you're going to go here this

55:57person's going to talk to you you're

55:58going to go here this person's going to

56:00talk to you um people do get squirely

56:02but again thankfully like police fire um

56:05even like you know this I what I I say

56:08like police and fire as if I'm only

56:10referencing ambulances it's just more so

56:12that that's the role they fill in

56:14general as well is a lot of it safety

56:17for us because again most of what you do

56:18is medical

56:19calls um I'm not above um giving it to

56:24people straight and being like hey if

56:26you're going to threaten me this isn't

56:28going to go well this isn't going to go

56:31well if you hurt me you are a felon in

56:33Idaho you're a felon automatically uh

56:36well you get a felony sorry um

56:38automatically if you hurt a cop or a

56:39first responder in general I'm not above

56:42using that um is it a threat yes but

56:45sometimes people need those kinds of

56:46things to be like hey it's about to get

56:49really really real I encourage you to

56:51listen to me now sometimes that is

56:54appropriate sometimes that is

56:56appropriate okay I need to emphasize

56:59that you have to pick your battles and

57:01the only way you can do that is by going

57:02out into the field okay I promise I'm

57:05not going to talk at you for very much

57:08longer um o this is really only

57:12interesting uh well I mean it's

57:14interesting to me because it brings up

57:16your cold weather gear and things like

57:18that we talk about like scbas and other

57:21things like safety equipment aside from

57:24our cold weather and warm weather gear

57:26um I carried a backpack with me on

57:28shift um it had

57:31sunblock um couple extra water bottles

57:34that had that plastic hot water taste it

57:36was great um but when you're in a pinch

57:39right when you're in a pinch and it's

57:40you're on a a traffic accident on Eagle

57:42Road and it's been 2 hours that they're

57:44extricating someone sometimes you just

57:46need some water right sunblock I kept an

57:49extra hat um water bottles liquid IV um

57:53hot packs like for your hands and like

57:55that I could put in my boots um a

57:59beanie

58:00um I get some non- perishables and I I

58:04do have one for the boots you were

58:05mentioning earlier in really hot weather

58:07if you buy cheap boots the heat comes

58:09through them it starts burning that's a

58:12good that's actually a good point cuz a

58:13lot of your um boots are going to need

58:15to be thicker for safety reasons like

58:17for the fire service in particular for

58:20sharps you know like glass and stuff but

58:22also the thermal rating on them for

58:24firefighters in particular right so that

58:25you can walk out into certain areas like

58:27if you're doing uh Wildland absolutely

58:30yeah good boots is an important part of

58:32this um with the cold weather gear and

58:35warm weather gear your boots are pretty

58:37good for both of them but definitely um

58:39consider purchasing some Gold

58:42Bond Gold Bond goes a long ways with

58:44these sweaty boots okay um you can wear

58:47a helmet if you want I don't encourage

58:48it um for like your standard call this

58:51just isn't very feasible um on the

58:54average call I don't think firefighters

58:55don't usually walk around with their

58:57their helmets on because it's

58:59uncomfortable and they're heavy um if

59:01you need to for the call obviously do it

59:02but you totally don't have to these

59:05gloves um the agencies I worked for gave

59:08us gloves um but you can always go find

59:11a good pair of outdoor like hunting

59:13gloves is what I usually encourage for

59:14people um if you're going to be working

59:16on the ambulance those hunting gloves

59:17are intended to get wet a lot of them

59:19have like a wool lining wool is is where

59:22it's at if you're talking about staying

59:24warm um wool socks you know they can get

59:26wet in particular but still keep you

59:28warm so big fan of wool um these boots

59:32you'll see this style a ton I don't

59:33recall what they like what the specific

59:36brand is but it has the mid zip um I see

59:39a lot of cops a lot of firefighters with

59:40them um it's just a style I figured I'd

59:42bring up these are the chipa chipa was

59:45that's what it is MHM

59:48um I don't mind them they're bulky

59:50they're a little too bulky for me um I

59:53already mentioned this aside from body

59:55armor um we did have ballistic vests

59:57that we were supposed to fit to us when

59:59we got on shift that is one thing I did

1:00:02every single day that I did not learn in

1:00:03paramedic school right we didn't go

1:00:06through that kind of stuff but once that

1:00:08um or not once we did it before

1:00:10thankfully um we went through here

1:00:12locally some of the Asher uh trainings

1:00:15which is active shooter and hostile

1:00:17environments um we went through some of

1:00:19this stuff with like uh ballistic vests

1:00:21already and you're supposed to be

1:00:22fitting it to you at the beginning of

1:00:24each shift so you could throw it on and

1:00:25just wrap it on if you're a big person

1:00:29um this is actually one area that

1:00:30doesn't suit you very well these um

1:00:34ballistic vests are quite small the

1:00:36plates don't actually cover as much of

1:00:37the area as people think they do um I

1:00:40don't know about you but one thing I've

1:00:41notied with a lot of officers is they

1:00:43get the standard size ballistic vests

1:00:46with the the plates are like they're

1:00:49like that big or something but on like

1:00:51big guys in particular it would only go

1:00:53to like here you know and then they've

1:00:55got this sides of their shoulders and

1:00:57chest exposed it should be better fitted

1:00:59from what I understand but also if

1:01:00you're a big dude you're a big dude you

1:01:02know it just might not fit you as well

1:01:03they they happen to fit me very well

1:01:05because they take up the entirety of my

1:01:07chest CU I'm a very small person but um

1:01:11not guaranteeing that you'll encounter

1:01:13these um for sure they are expensive but

1:01:16this is the world you're kind of

1:01:17stepping into with First Responders

1:01:19unfortunately it's a world where you

1:01:20have to maybe consider wearing a

1:01:22bulletproof vest so I've worn him quite

1:01:25a bit he's got way more experiened than

1:01:26I do but um I've worn them quite a bit I

1:01:28don't have a problem with them they are

1:01:29deeply

1:01:30uncomfortable um but this is a pro move

1:01:34keeping your hands warm in your vest

1:01:36like this you'll see a lot of cops walk

1:01:38around like that it is a great armrest

1:01:40and that's about the only way I feel

1:01:42towards

1:01:43them so caring for the critically ill

1:01:45and injured patients um this a lot of

1:01:48this is going to be my advice to you

1:01:50okay so really when it comes down to

1:01:52this My Philosophy is hi my name is

1:01:55Kylie I'm a paramedic what's going on

1:01:57today what happened that kind of thing

1:01:59get to or what's your name right my

1:02:01name's Kylie what's your name blah blah

1:02:03blah I'm a paramedic what's going on

1:02:05introduce yourself every time the fact

1:02:08that people don't think we should be

1:02:10introducing ourselves is ridiculous to

1:02:11me it takes 10 seconds also um do you

1:02:15mind if I touch your arm really quick

1:02:17when I go on a call for a patient I walk

1:02:19up and I do check a pulse and I say hi

1:02:22I'm Kylie I'm a paramedic what's going

1:02:24on today and I just got a ton of

1:02:26information from him he looked at me

1:02:28when I looked at him right I felt his

1:02:31skin I felt his pulse I directed A a

1:02:34command towards him right um what's

1:02:36going on today he looked at me and was

1:02:38about ready to answer it just from

1:02:41introducing myself I got a ton of

1:02:43information on that patient it's also

1:02:45respectful just do it um I would always

1:02:49tell people um hey my you know that

1:02:52whole Spiel whatever um let's say

1:02:54they're asking about their condition I

1:02:55would say say I don't have the Imaging

1:02:58and all that stuff um that the hospital

1:03:00does I can't tell you exactly what's

1:03:01going on I have a pretty good idea and I

1:03:04have a lot of the same treatments that

1:03:05they do at the hospital if something

1:03:07comes up I can treat it that's what I

1:03:10liked telling people um I'm not

1:03:12promising anything right but I can treat

1:03:15anything in some way whether I'm

1:03:17recognizing it passing off that

1:03:18information to the hospital whatever I

1:03:20can still recognize it and that's

1:03:22important right saying I don't know

1:03:24what's going to happen I can't can't see

1:03:26what's going on in your body but I can

1:03:27tell you that I here's what I do see x a

1:03:30b c whatever um I can treat these things

1:03:33so if something comes up just tell me

1:03:35what's going on we'll go from there that

1:03:37works really well don't lie to people

1:03:40don't give them false hope um if

1:03:43anything happens to somebody where like

1:03:46you know maybe they witness something

1:03:47and they're a bystander um also consider

1:03:50that has the potential to be a patient

1:03:52too right I've G I've been on those

1:03:54calls where something happens and we're

1:03:56interacting with the patient but there's

1:03:57also a bystander who now is having

1:03:59something happen some kind of distress

1:04:01so keep that in mind too right um when

1:04:04we're talking when I say bystanders it's

1:04:06usually kind of like a panic attack or

1:04:07something like that they're not

1:04:09critically ill maybe you don't know

1:04:12right but they're still experiencing

1:04:13something still be nice to them right um

1:04:16if there's family that you can put

1:04:18people in contact with in particular um

1:04:21it's not as easily accessible for us the

1:04:23police are much better at that that was

1:04:25something I really like to do with my

1:04:27officers on scene I'd be like hey you

1:04:29need a task and I need a family member

1:04:31to contact and they're very good at it

1:04:35they are very good at finding people I

1:04:38had an officer come up I was like I

1:04:39don't know this kid's name I don't know

1:04:42anything about them and the officer went

1:04:44hold on and we hadn't even left the

1:04:46scene we were maybe five or six minutes

1:04:48later he walks up with this kids name

1:04:51parents' phone numbers the addresses

1:04:53that they work at and and I was like

1:04:56dang you're good school resource

1:04:58officers are great for that what's that

1:05:00school resource officers sro's are

1:05:01amazing for that we'll talk about sro's

1:05:04a little more too because they play a

1:05:05big role in when we interact um

1:05:07especially on Thursday when we interact

1:05:09with schools just in general so big fan

1:05:11of that um if we're talking about

1:05:14children um I can't give you a recipe

1:05:17for how to talk to people when we're

1:05:19talking about a dead kid there's no

1:05:21recipe for it um there's really no

1:05:24guaranteed method that's not going to

1:05:26have people be pissed at you it's an

1:05:28awful

1:05:29situation uh if you have some kind of

1:05:32program we have the tips program here

1:05:34it's like trauma

1:05:35intervention something Services um

1:05:38basically if you know I go on a call and

1:05:40I have like a dead child and the family

1:05:42needs a resource I can request tips and

1:05:44the people that are trained they're also

1:05:46volunteers will go to that call and go

1:05:48help them they're trained in grief stuff

1:05:51like I don't know grief counseling in

1:05:52particular but grief things great res

1:05:55ource the police are also very

1:05:57knowledgeable on local resources for

1:05:59that kind of stuff utilize them as well

1:06:01fire is definitely not as in tune with

1:06:04like social services and things like

1:06:06that not nearly as much as the police

1:06:07are highly encourage you to utilize them

1:06:10for the social side of our job

1:06:11especially the fire department that's

1:06:13not exactly their forte in most areas um

1:06:17but when it comes to the death of a

1:06:18child in particular I would definitely

1:06:20reach out to the police and be like do

1:06:21you guys have any programs or maybe

1:06:23consider re reaching out to someone in

1:06:25the

1:06:26right depending on where you are or

1:06:28where your P patients are with like

1:06:29their religious Endeavors you know their

1:06:31faith um it I'm I don't practice as a

1:06:34Catholic anymore but for some reason you

1:06:36know it would it would just feel good to

1:06:38me if I was grieving to just have a

1:06:40priest to just talk at right because

1:06:42that's what they do a lot of um that's

1:06:45part of what it means to be like a

1:06:47minister or whatever you know what I

1:06:49mean um they they make it um as well how

1:06:55do I say this um when we're talking

1:06:57about the clergy in general um they're

1:06:59really just making this a support system

1:07:01those are not supposed to substitute for

1:07:03grief counselors and things like that

1:07:05okay so you have to think about the

1:07:06downstream effect of things that's where

1:07:08the police come in um when it comes to

1:07:11delivering death notifications we'll

1:07:13talk about that a little bit more um but

1:07:16death notifications we are allowed to do

1:07:18that in the field um Most states allow

1:07:20EMTs uh the EMT level licenser so it

1:07:23goes EMT Advanced EMT paramedic

1:07:26uh you guys would be able to pronounce

1:07:27death in the field here in Idaho um with

1:07:30that a lot of layers to it um hospice

1:07:34versus um you know a sudden death

1:07:37whatever the situation might be we'll

1:07:39talk about it as we move through the

1:07:40class different modes of communication

1:07:42for different types of people um but few

1:07:45things that I do want to mention is this

1:07:47is actually a very real experience that

1:07:50you see people go through within minutes

1:07:54you'll see people go through all all of

1:07:55these stages of grieving and it's very

1:07:58hard it's extremely difficult to see

1:08:01people go through this as quickly as

1:08:02they do I think one thing that helps me

1:08:05in particular when it came to like

1:08:07managing these kinds of scenes would be

1:08:09like you don't have to talk to me I'm

1:08:12going to be here regardless okay if you

1:08:15want to talk to me you want you know me

1:08:17to sit next to you whatever you tell me

1:08:21and I'll make it work right that it

1:08:23gives them the opportunity to what they

1:08:25want to do um and I just I've had really

1:08:29good feedback on it sometimes people

1:08:30just want you to sit next to them they

1:08:32really really do I've done that so many

1:08:34times where people or I'm like I'm going

1:08:36to be right here okay I can't leave them

1:08:38alone much of the time however I'm going

1:08:40to be right here I'm going to give you

1:08:42some privacy right if you need me I'm

1:08:45right here and I've had a lot of people

1:08:47be like can you actually just come sit

1:08:48with

1:08:49me um yeah totally do you want to talk

1:08:52no you got it I have plenty of things

1:08:54that I can go through my mind while

1:08:56keeping you company you know what I mean

1:08:58so I think that works very well I've had

1:09:00good feedback on it let people do what

1:09:02they're going to do don't let them hurt

1:09:03you don't let them threaten you but let

1:09:05people do what they're going to do if

1:09:07things get a little dicey the police are

1:09:09there um to help you out the police are

1:09:11on every death notification because it

1:09:13is now a crime scene until they

1:09:15establish that it's either not or they

1:09:17do their

1:09:18investigation so um let people do their

1:09:21thing as long as it doesn't damage uh

1:09:24the scene or the evidence

1:09:26uh the police are pretty willing to let

1:09:27us use the things like use family

1:09:30members um you know I've seen them let

1:09:33kids get stuffed animals out of bedrooms

1:09:35and things like that right things that

1:09:37Comfort uh just get the police involved

1:09:39they'll help a lot I don't like any of

1:09:42these I think these are really awful um

1:09:45for the most part um I don't we'll again

1:09:48we'll talk more about this as we go

1:09:51through but in particular um

1:09:55that must be painful for you hate these

1:09:58I hate them uh think about if someone

1:10:00said to you uh said said some of these

1:10:03things to you would it feel

1:10:05condescending maybe a little diminutive

1:10:08uh maybe a little like empty they're a I

1:10:10think they're a little empty and that's

1:10:11my biggest beef with them um I kind of

1:10:14pick what I'm going to say based off of

1:10:16the call and how that call is going if

1:10:18you don't know what to say don't say

1:10:20anything you could be doing some serious

1:10:22damage if you're trying to give advice

1:10:25and you're not the person that should be

1:10:26giving advice for the first bit of your

1:10:29career listen to your older Medics and

1:10:31your old EMTs watch how they talk to

1:10:32people watch your supervisors that's

1:10:35normally what they're doing on these

1:10:36calls is bouncing around talking to

1:10:38family members and things like that if

1:10:40you have like if it's something that you

1:10:43care strongly about like I do go find a

1:10:4520year BC or something like that and say

1:10:48how do you talk people through death you

1:10:50know like the family and stuff like that

1:10:52talk to them the only way you can get

1:10:53better is by asking people what works

1:10:55for

1:10:57them um this last thing um alarm fatigue

1:11:00have you guys heard of that alarm

1:11:03fatigue is when you are exposed to a

1:11:05stimulus repeatedly and you eventually

1:11:07stop um responding to it that's not a

1:11:11good thing it sounds nice and it would

1:11:13kind of feel nice if it would go away

1:11:15like that but it doesn't the problem is

1:11:18you have that stress it repeatedly comes

1:11:20up and you don't deal with it and then

1:11:22you don't get to recover from it because

1:11:24it just keeps coming up and you're not

1:11:26dealing with it that's how people get

1:11:27stuck in the alarm fatigue burnouts

1:11:30another thing um anything that makes you

1:11:33feel um hyperaroused or makes you feel

1:11:36like you're running from a saber-tooth

1:11:37tiger like all of this stuff is

1:11:40considered the reaction to it right

1:11:41whether it's a trigger emotionally

1:11:43something physically whatever um they'll

1:11:46look like they're running from a

1:11:47saber-tooth tiger and a lot of it has to

1:11:49do with these situations um that alarm

1:11:52fatigue is exacerbated by PTSD uh sign

1:11:55significantly often times cuz of this

1:11:57and it's not usually the sights and

1:12:00smells that bother me it's the

1:12:02sounds sounds are a tough one you'll

1:12:05hear a lot of people um uh reporting

1:12:08like you know when they have flashbacks

1:12:09and stuff like that that they'll hear

1:12:11things um they're like reliving the call

1:12:13that's a big part of our job is the

1:12:15sensory input that we get you have to

1:12:17deal with this stuff guys this isn't

1:12:20just your brain going through stuff this

1:12:21is your nose your ears your touch um you

1:12:24know your eyes all of these senses are

1:12:26experiencing things you have to work

1:12:28through it whether it feels like it or

1:12:30not okay acknowledging that that it's

1:12:33multifaceted is very

1:12:35important um if you encounter one of

1:12:38these you know like or when I say

1:12:40encounter I guess if you're experiencing

1:12:42any of these where you're like um it's

1:12:45the unpredictability of EMS is making it

1:12:48difficult to focus or maybe it's like

1:12:50your schedule is making it difficult the

1:12:51calls that you're running anything like

1:12:54that you're going to have to create your

1:12:55own stress uh Stress Management System

1:12:59uh whatever that looks like for you you

1:13:01have to make it for you because it

1:13:02doesn't matter if it's not for you is it

1:13:04I can tell you to go work out but if you

1:13:06don't work out does that help you no so

1:13:09what works for you and is it healthy

1:13:12okay this is interesting to me acute

1:13:15stress reactions is what we're

1:13:16experiencing on the call the delayed

1:13:19stress reaction is how you feel the next

1:13:21day adrenaline hangovers if you've ever

1:13:24heard of that it's a very real thing and

1:13:26then the cumulative stress is in 6

1:13:28months when you're still thinking about

1:13:29that

1:13:30call and usually what happens is alarm

1:13:33fatigue where you can't cope with it is

1:13:35in here and that's because you're going

1:13:38back on

1:13:39shift so please please please like I

1:13:41said maintain that care for yourself

1:13:44because this right here what people

1:13:46experience when they're super stressed

1:13:47is awful the GI upset is very real the

1:13:50mental fog the irritability insomnia

1:13:54hyperactivity potential for drug abuse

1:13:56all that stuff is very

1:13:58high um oh I already talked about that

1:14:02so uh critical incident stress um uh

1:14:06when we talk about this we're talking

1:14:07about your debriefs I love a good

1:14:09debrief or a round table if you've heard

1:14:11of that before the police are

1:14:12particularly good about that here

1:14:14locally um if there's a really rough

1:14:16call we try to get the crews together so

1:14:18that we can talk about it um and it's

1:14:20not necessarily just a hey how do you

1:14:22feel it's a hey um sorry your name

1:14:25Daniel Daniel hey Daniel I don't like

1:14:27how that situation went can you please

1:14:29explain to me why you did that on that

1:14:31call that's the point right because you

1:14:34questions are usually what breeds trauma

1:14:36why did this happen how did this happen

1:14:39is it going to happen again right it's

1:14:41just questions so you can actually

1:14:42address a lot of them um I very much

1:14:45appreciate that because it helps

1:14:46eliminate this PTSD cycle and the PTSD

1:14:50cycle does require that you get um some

1:14:53of that recovery phase before

1:14:55you go to another event that with the

1:14:57potential for that that exposure right

1:14:59you need to be getting this figured out

1:15:01within like a day or two is usually what

1:15:03they tell people um it's not like you

1:15:04need to is if you don't it's never going

1:15:06to get better but that's the most

1:15:08optimal time for you too so if I ran a

1:15:11stressful call uh like for example I ran

1:15:13a really rough pediatric call when I

1:15:14first started at the county um I got

1:15:16sent home from the shift because of my

1:15:18superviser thought it was best it was a

1:15:21horrible call like awful um I won't

1:15:23share it um right now now but I'll talk

1:15:25about it later he sent me home and then

1:15:27they mandated I go to counseling the

1:15:29next day so I had to go they paid me to

1:15:31go they paid for the counselor the

1:15:33counselor had to approve me to go back

1:15:35to work which wasn't hard right cuz it

1:15:37was like hey how are you doing let's

1:15:39talk about it and we worked through it

1:15:40and it was fine but that usually happens

1:15:42within one or two days of the call and

1:15:44that's a great resource please utilize

1:15:47it if that's an option for you

1:15:48especially if your Department's paying

1:15:50for it right and you're getting paid for

1:15:53it that's the best way to take care of

1:15:54yourself

1:15:55right is to utilize when other people

1:15:57are giving you resources to do

1:15:59so um usually you're going to have a

1:16:01counselor um for that like I said but

1:16:04sometimes they'll do it with like just

1:16:05the people that were on the call you

1:16:07guys already know what burnout is you

1:16:09know what compassion fatigue is Right

1:16:11compassion fatigue is what a lot of us

1:16:13just feel in our day-to-day anyways

1:16:14because we're tired people are mean

1:16:16they're exhausting that's just the

1:16:19nature of it that's okay however it's

1:16:21not okay if you um let that compassion

1:16:23fatigue affect the way you treat treat

1:16:25patients right that's not okay so I'm

1:16:29sure you guys have heard of this we are

1:16:31at a significant risk for suicide that's

1:16:34just a part of it unfortunately we're

1:16:36trying to get better at Mental Health

1:16:38Services and we are but that's the

1:16:39nature of the job um do you guys know

1:16:43the um job with the highest incidence of

1:16:49suicide that's what I thought but it's

1:16:52dentists um I was and that it was a

1:16:55study that I read from a while ago I

1:16:57imagine it might it might not have

1:16:59changed it might have changed I wouldn't

1:17:00be surprised either way but there are a

1:17:02lot of stressful areas in different jobs

1:17:04that you probably aren't aware of ours

1:17:06are just kind of out there in the open

1:17:07for people right people know we go

1:17:10through a lot of stuff um and that's

1:17:12honestly what kind of makes it a little

1:17:14more difficult is because we have to

1:17:15remain calm even though like if we were

1:17:18to freak out it would probably be kind

1:17:19of kind of reasonable you're seeing

1:17:22something really awful that's the thing

1:17:24that screwed me over the most because if

1:17:26I'm going to put on a blank face I'm

1:17:28going to have to maintain that inside

1:17:31for a steady period of time otherwise

1:17:33it's not going to work right so that

1:17:35blank feeling is empty feeling is is a

1:17:37big problem and we've already talked

1:17:40about this I'm not going to go too much

1:17:42into workplace issues other than um

1:17:44there are people for you to talk to HR

1:17:46is not your

1:17:48friend HR but I mean that's big sister

1:17:51again like like big kid advice as well R

1:17:55is intended to be your friend but

1:17:57they're not intended to be there only

1:17:59for you they're also intended to be

1:18:00there for the employer I'm only saying

1:18:03that again because you need to hear it

1:18:04nobody told me that obviously they're

1:18:06there for that reason but um you know

1:18:10like take care of yourself and make sure

1:18:12that you're documenting anything that

1:18:13needs to be documented okay if you

1:18:16encounter anything where you're like

1:18:18this could turn into something write

1:18:19things down write things down who you

1:18:22talk to what day it was all that kind of

1:18:23stuff because when it comes comes to uh

1:18:26these issues it could fall on you as a

1:18:28partner in some cases if someone gets

1:18:30hurt okay substance abuse is a little

1:18:32different we usually have um drug

1:18:34testing to kind of help alleviate some

1:18:37of that but if someone fails a drug test

1:18:38they fail a drug test um that is your

1:18:41responsibility to take care of okay so

1:18:43that

1:18:44[Music]

1:18:48is yeah

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