We All Suffer Burnout; Coping Skills I Have Learned

In the Paramedic industry becoming burnt out is almost inevitable. The reality of burnout stress is that it can lead to other deeper problems. Over the years as a Paramedic I have been burnt out. The psychological changes that can occur with burn out are far too real, and in some cases the cumulative build up can lead to an Occupational Stress Injury. When this happens the only help for the practitioner becomes time off from work and real counselling with a psychologically trained therapist. One of the biggest keys in EMS as a whole is learning how to cope with burn out. This involves having outlets and coping skills to deal with our stress so that it doesn't become a larger issue.

Bad feelings inside your mind can seem daunting and overwhelming but sometimes, once you get them out of your head, they suddenly don't seem as big or as severe. Over the years I have tried many different ways of coping with burn out and work stress. I have tried some methods that were detrimental to my over all well being. Thankfully, due to good friends and some self reflection I have found more positive methods to maintain my health. This article is more aimed at people in the industry, as many of you that read this will become, or have become burnt out in this career.

Burnout is not something that paramedics should be ashamed of or should ever have to hide. Paramedics see the things that no one else should see. The same rings true for our brethren in the Police and Fire Department as well. When you allow a stigma to prevent you from seeking an outlet or talking about your stress you are truly causing more harm to yourself. When I started this blog I was determined to have it mean something, and my hope was for it to make a difference in people's lives. Lately there has been a lot of talk about Occupational stress injuries in EMS, and I am glad that it has come to the fore front as a topic that needs to be addressed. To learn more I encourage you to check out a colleague of mine's site, Theresa Coulter.

As promised here are some of things you can do to combat burnout. Some may seem trivial or obscure but these are things I have tried that have worked. The things I have tried that were not so good were fairly common and things many people have done to try to feel better. I found my way into the bottom of a bottle for a time several years ago to deal with stress I was feeling due to work. I was fortunate that good friends recognized it and helped me out. Drinking to excess is definitely one of the worst ways to handle your stress and in fact will cause you to become more stressed. I am and have been an emotional eater, so when things would get to me I would eat poorly, which affected my health. I gained a lot of weight, as well as developed a few health problems. I have since made several positive changes, although I do slide into old habits now and again, but we are always a work in progress.

Onto positive ways to cope with your burn out stress. These are the things that work for me, and even though you may know of them, I am just here to tell you what works through my experience. One of the first things that I have found to help reduce burn out is to ensure you get enough rest! This one is one of the simplest and most overlooked fixes for your burn out. This is as simple as taking a day and having an extra long nap, letting your self take that time for YOU. You can try going to bed a little bit earlier before you are working, and giving yourself that extra rest to be mentally prepared for what you might face at work.

The next tip I have for you is surprisingly highly effective at reducing stress, and helps your balance, flexibility and overall recovery from aches and pains. From that introduction alone you might already know I am referring to yoga. I have not personally done a lot of yoga, but the few times I have participated I have found my self feeling much better quite quickly! I know several practitioners who practice yoga on a regular basis and they have stated that this form of exercise is highly relaxing and helps to reduce stress!

To go along with more rest and an activity like yoga I highly recommend hydration and a healthy diet. High volumes of water clean our bodies from the inside out, couple this with a healthy eating plan and your stress will begin to melt away! It is rather remarkable how well this works to maintain balance. I also do advocate once or twice a week to let your self indulge for one meal in something delicious that you are craving!

As we become burnt out we will start to find ourselves dragging our feet, and feeling lazy. This is the worst thing we can allow to happen to ourselves. It is imperative at this point to get your body moving and doing some form of physical activity. Not just any old exercise, but an exercise you enjoy! I personally love to swim so I make a regular habit of swimming, which has greatly reduced my personal stress. It has also helped me maintain a healthy balance in my personal and professional life!

More and more people have been doing this one which makes me very happy as it was not something that was heavily encouraged at one time! Always remember to use your accrued time off and do things for yourself and your family that are completely unrelated to this job. Take vacations, and spend time doing activities you enjoy! I have been doing this the last few years, and I feel it has increased my longevity in this job and in life in general. The world is a beautiful place and I believe we should see as much of it as we can in our lifetime!

Last but certainly not least, and this can vary from person to person, but finding an outlet for yourself. A hobby of some sort, whether it be art, or models, or like in my case, writing. I love to write, and find it very relaxing, as well as rewarding. Even if it is something you just do for you that takes your mind out of the EMS world for a while. This allows you to focus on something completely different. This has been proven to lower stress levels and just generally help you feel better.

Our job will inevitably cause you to become burnt out. This is a first step towards permanent forms of occupational stress injuries. This is where occupational stress needs to be stopped or at least managed! I am not promising you will never end up with an occupational stress injury. The things we face on a day to day basis could still cause those kinds of injuries. It is important that you treat those injuries appropriately with the right type of help! These are a few of the things that I do to reduce my stress levels which have kept me in this industry for 16 years now. I have many years left and I still love my career. I hope that some of these ideas can inspire you to work on reducing your stress levels if you are suffering.

These ideas and coping tips can be used in everyday life as well. Everyone feels stress, especially this time of year. With our global economy in a bit of a shambles and many many people out of work it is more important than ever to find ways to reduce your stress levels. Take some time for yourself and try some of the ideas I have mentioned above. Allow yourself the freedom to recognize there is a problem and then take the time to address it and help yourself feel better. You will be much better for your family and loved ones if you ensure that you remain fully healthy.

I hope you enjoyed this read, and I encourage you to like it, share it, forward it to your friends and loved ones! Thank you for reading!

Our Best On Your Worst Day

So I been out a while and haven't posted in quite a bit. I had taken some time to reflect on why I was starting this blog. I have always been a fan of writing, and at times even seemed to be pretty good at it. I want to share with my friends and loved ones that aren't in the medical field what it's like for us as Paramedics on the street. We face a lot of heart ache, and meet many people in hard times. Each call presents unique challenges, and every call takes a small piece of us with it. When I took this bit of time off, I thought about this blog a lot and wondered if I would continue it. I wondered if people would read it, and if they would enjoy it or understand. I have many strong feelings about what I do as a Paramedic, and granted the dynamic of our industry has changed a lot over the 16 years I have been doing this. The dynamic has changed but the basic principle of what we do has never changed since the beginning.

When I think of what I want to share with you the readers; I want you to be able to look inside our world, without taking the scars with you. I want you to know that when you look at that smiling paramedic in line at the Tim Horton's, they may have just finished performing CPR on someone that didn't survive even after all of their efforts. This weighs heavy on medics at any level. The break I took was interrupted recently when I signed up for a Facebook page called simply Ambulance Drivers and was suddenly inspired. Reading their page and watching their videos got me searching and thinking about Paramedicine from a whole new angle. When I first began in this industry I was passionate, and wanted to help everyone. As time went on, I left a piece of myself with every bad call, and I know that every medic does this. You can't leave a bad call unaffected. It is simply not possible. I thought about this and have turned things around for myself and gotten back to the basics. I am here to help sick people.

Every one of us every day puts on our uniforms and we come to work. Every day, of every tour, of every month of every year paramedics are there when you need us. You don't have to think, or wonder. You know that when you dial 911 paramedics will show up at your door. You will put your world on our shoulders and we will always do our best, on your worst day. We are a different type of person. We are no better than anyone else, we are not stronger than anyone else, but we have a passion to help people and we will never give up on someone.

When I took this break, I wanted to ensure that this blog would be about something. I didn't want to write just to write. I want people that don't do what we do to understand our world. I want people that love us to know that sometimes when we are quiet or distant it's not personal. I want our families to know that we chose this, and that what we do means something to us, even when sometimes it seems like we complain about what we do. I don't want to just ramble, I want you, the reader, to be able to take something from each post and gain a bit of understanding about our world. I also want those of you that are in the industry to know that as a colleague I appreciate each of you, and I want you to reflect on the reasons you began this journey to be a paramedic or an EMT. The passion to help people is what drove most of us into this industry, not fully knowing that each bad call will take it's toll on us, physically, and emotionally.

I am hoping that this will be the beginning of a steady stream of writing about what we do, and why we do it. I will even offer advice sometimes. I want to call this blog an extension of what I am as a paramedic. I do hope you enjoy the read, and the video below! It's the video I stole the line from for the title above. Remember when you call 911, we will always be there to do our best on your worst day!

Ambulance Drivers, Why This Term Is Offensive To Paramedics

Many people equate the term ambulance driver to the people that come to their home and help them in their time of need. I don't want to upset people, but this term to Paramedics, EMT"s and EMR's across the medical industry is offensive. The term driver implies that the only thing we do is drive. The focus of pre-hospital professionals goes far beyond driving. Every level of our medical training provides us the skill to breathe for you, compress your chest to ensure perfusion until a defibrillator can be attached to you, and then the ability to use electricity to restart your heart. As each level increases these skills also increase. At the paramedic level we can provide breathing tubes, apply Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), or Positive End Expiratory Pressure (PEEP). We can also open up a surgical airway in your trachea to breathe for you as well. These are just the invasive things we can do to help you breathe. Each of these skills requires many hours of training and demonstrated practice to become proficient.

When it comes to the rest of your body we can perform skills like Trans cutaneous pacing, synchronized cardioversion, manual defibrillation, and we can also perform chest decompressions. In the abdominal cavity we can listen to bowel sounds, diagnose inflammatory diseases like cholecystitis or appendicitis. We can take care of nausea and vomiting, perform nasogastric tubes, or orogastric tubes to prevent vomiting or to prevent abdominal distension due to air from artificial respiration.

A paramedic is able to do all of these things, and these are the skills that make up the title Paramedic. Sound redundant? It's meant to. We have earned our title, just like a police officer, or a fire fighter. You don't call Police officers police car drivers do you? When was the last time you referred to a fire fighter as a fire truck driver? You haven't because you understand that those positions are earned, as are the titles. A Paramedic has also earned their title. From beginning to end a Paramedic undergoes almost 4 total years of education. We are inundated with medical knowledge, practical training and we have to  undergo 4 hospital practicums. One in pediatrics, one in labor and delivery. We also spend time in an Operating room as well as the emergency department. Add to that the 2 to 3 400 plus hour ambulance practicums we are required to do before we are considered ready to perform our duties on our own. The training is extensive and it is important as we deal with people in life and death situations at times.

As you read this article you may have seen some terms that you didn't understand, unless you work in our industry. This was also done intentionally, to show what is meant by the fact that a driver is just a driver. I have used very basic terms above, but the skills mentioned are highly technical and invasive. My point is when you see us driving in our ambulance be aware that we are far more than ambulance drivers. We bring professionalism and high quality care as well as respect into your homes when we are there. All we are asking is that you understand we far more than drivers and we would appreciate the respect we deserve.