Paramedic – Resilient Responder

Sometimes to understand what something is, it helps to look at what it is not. So let’s talk about what resilience is not. It might be a little surprising.

Being resilient does not mean you never get angry. People get angry. It is a normal, natural response.

Resilience does not mean you never feel depressed. When bad things happen, you feel bad. Your mood gets low. It happens.

Resilient people can feel anxious. Sometimes anxiety is good. It keeps you sharp. Sometimes it comes from anticipation of change, wanted or unwanted. (See the last post for how to manage change.) It is often the fear of the unexpected.

So, resilient people can feel afraid. Fear keeps you safe. You know…fight, flight, or freeze.

Being resilient does not mean you never cry. Come on. You know you have wanted to, but didn’t want anyone to think you were a wimp. God made tear ducts for a reason and it wasn’t just to keep your eyes clear of debris.

Being resilient does not mean you have to always be smiling. (Cue Pharrell Williams here…or NOT.)

Resilience does not mean you get along with everyone all the time. Some people are just not fun to be around. You know who they are…..

Being resilient does not mean you always agree with everyone, even your admin. You might even argue with them or get angry (see number 1).

Resilient people do not “suck it up, buttercup.” They know that doesn’t work anyway.

Ok…can’t think of anything for number 10.

So, what do resilient people do when they experience 1 through 9? They live through it. Duh, right? What I mean is, they pay attention to what they feel. They recognize it is a normal reaction of a normal person to an abnormal situation. Hey…we get some really abnormal stuff in our job!

The trick is to look at the reason you feel the way you do and decide what you want to do about it. Sometimes, there is action you can take. If you disagree with your admin, offer them an alternative solution. They might not take your advice, but at least you are not passively complying. You are being part of the solution rather than the problem.

If you are depressed, angry, sad, or anxious; cut yourself some slack. Again, normal reaction of a normal person to an abnormal situation. Look at what is distressing you. Focus on your breathing. Let the millions of thoughts going through your mind run their course. Give it time, but try not to dwell on the negative parts too long. Make a plan for how you can handle the situation and work your plan.

Resilient people do not push their feelings and emotions down and ignore them completely. (See #9). They know these are normal and let them come. Then they carry on.

What are you doing that is not resilient? What do you want to do instead?

Leave a comment below. Follow me and I will let you know when the next blog comes out.

Thanks for reading!

There is a lot of talk about stress in EMS. It is legitimate. Being a medic is stressful. Some of the stress is good, some is not-so-good, and some is very bad. Maybe you have managed to have a long career in the business. You have seen a lot of change! Maybe you have managed to get by relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, there are many who have not.

So…what is resilience and why does it matter?

Dictionary.com defines resilience as “the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.”

I like that.

Do you remember when you were a child? Nothing kept you down. No matter what happened, you picked yourself up and kept going, right? That was resilience. You were tough! You fell. You bent. You stretched. But you didn’t break. You returned to your original form At least that is the way it works for most kids.

So why is it so hard now. Life! The job! Somehow, you learned that you were supposed to suffer. Or maybe you finally reached a limit that pushed you beyond your capacity. Or you watched other people that seemed to have it all together and didn’t want to admit you did not…so you kept it bottled up. You stopped bending. You stopped stretching. When you compressed, you didn’t return to normal. Or you bent so far you broke. Or stretched so far you snapped.

That doesn’t have to happen!

So what now? Why does it matter anyway?

Medic class 101. The physical results of stress. Stress increases the heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and keeps you from being able to think clearly and make rational decisions. Under “normal” circumstances, you have stress. You have the symptoms. The stress resolves and the symptoms go away. Simple enough.

Except, what happens when the symptoms don’t go away? When you have stress that keeps nagging at you. Your heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and ability to think clearly and make rational decisions continues to be impaired. The bad thing is you don’t always notice it right away. So the stress hides inside you and you accumulate more and more. And finally you have a heart attack or stroke. More likely, though, you will get irritable or cynical, have anger problems, stop caring about the job, or the agency, or your partner on the job, or your significant other, or….you get the picture. On top of that, you don’t eat well or exercise regularly. Okay…now I’m meddling.

So I have one word for you. Stop!

Easy, right?

Trust me. I know it isn’t. That’s why I am here. To help you figure this out. To give you pointers so you do not have to suffer the consequences of the stress you get on this job.

I hope you will stay tuned. Please let me know what helps you become or stay resilient. I want to know your thoughts.

‘Til next time!

Tag: Paramedic

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