Vendor Viewpoint: Create a Culture of Caring

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the past year has demonstrated the importance of mental health in all aspects of life. One in five people will experience a mental health concern during their lifetime, and this number increases within the first responder community. 

Every day first responders are impacted with experiences and granted little time to process them on mental, emotional, or physical levels. As a result, mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, acute or post-traumatic stress response, suicide ideation, and other adverse effects can begin to manifest. Bringing awareness to mental health improves the relationship you have with yourself and others, builds resilience, creates healthy habits, promotes career longevity, and cultivates community. 

Reducing Stigma

One of the first methods of bringing awareness to mental health is to reduce stigmatization. Stigma rests on the belief that mental health is controllable. Individuals who can’t control or hide their feelings during a shift may be perceived as weak, erratic, or emotional. Responders who experience emotional distress may be treated as inferior and experience discrimination. The internalized stigma of not wanting your crew to view you as the weak link heightens the turmoil. 

It can be difficult to distinguish what first responders experience on calls versus their day-to-day (noncrisis) experiences when evaluating symptoms of mental health. To destigmatize mental health, we require a culture of care that includes empathy, advocacy, and education.

We have heard many times the hardest step is asking for help. This step can be easier if responders know where to start, and openly providing resources can make a big difference. Posting available resources in stations—peer support groups, EAPs, resources outside the department—can be a proactive leap in a healthy direction. Not all responders understand the effects of trauma or can identify their own damage. Providing departmentwide education on the manifestation of anxiety, depression, and trauma may help responders support each other as well as themselves. 

Department culture will also play a big role.  Creating judgement-free zones during debriefings and meetings while providers talk through difficult situations will create a supportive space and culture. Encouraging a day off after a difficult shift will allow responders time to decompress and recharge. Responders may show up for their next shift steadier if they’re permitted that essential time.

Just as we perform equipment checks at the beginning of each shift, developing a culture of care supporting mental and emotional health would also include personnel checks. This means checking in on your colleagues, offering support, and encouraging and making time off available when needed.

Certain things about this job are going to feel terrible. Those things add up and change how we function in our lives. Create professional and personal support networks to process those experiences. Work hard to support each other on and off the job. Listen to each other. Through good and bad, humans are resilient. As a determined group, we can be unstoppable.  

Julie Lahr, BA, EMT-P, HHP, is a clinical support specialist with ZOLL Medical Corp. 

Ashley Taylor, MA, is a licensed professional counselor.