First Responders' Well-Being Is Critically Important

This post was written by my good friend Dr. Richard Lumb. Richard is now a criminologist, but when I met him many years ago, he was the chief of police in a small town on the coast of Maine. We have worked together for many years doing trainings for police, first responders, and other groups. His post today focuses on the importance of first responders, especially now. —Dr Ron Breazeale

Society dials 911 with every imaginable request the mind and situation can conjure up. With each call, the anticipation is the right people will respond! To the person dialing 911, the reason for doing so, and the corresponding concern, remains front and center to conscious awareness. The individual or persons arriving receive a cursory acknowledgment, and the expectation is emergency services will address and appropriately fix the problem. Generally, that expectation is satisfied, and resumption of life continues with nary a thought of the individuals’ who answered the call. Concerns for the responders, their skills, commitment, and engagement in the event of focus seldom receive conscious thought.

We must not fail to retain awareness of your needs, your contributions, your desires, and concerns; the life you live both on and off the job, for you represent far more than the person who responds to calls for service within your area of expertise. Most providers share life with others who depend on them, share in the job’s joys and sadness, and an appropriate realization that society has no alternative when disaster or needs arise, beyond that which they are capable of managing.

The international coronavirus has exacerbated fear, anxiety, anger, and a multitude of emotions, which is reasonable enough as people seek to cope with the troubling events inherent in their lives. Despair and anxiety are present, and with social withdrawal, others are sensing a renewed urgency to engage; however, they are able. The individuals who respond to 911 calls often tread where situations drive others away, but not without a depth of awareness, not having experienced the events you have witnessed.

Utilizing this experience and knowledge, you can make a difference in your and your colleague's wellness, strengthening personal and group awareness, and adopting proper attitude and practices essential for safe outcomes. Strategies include:

• Talking with one another, sharing information, feelings, and concerns. Who better than those with whom you work and know well?
• Sharing with family and loved ones. They have the same concerns and needs.
• When you identify a problem or issue, do not delay in finding a sustainable solution.
• Including others needed to find a resolution that leads to positive practices.
• Ensuring that information is shared and passed along for the benefit of all personnel.
• And, importantly, taking time to examine how you feel, think, and what concerns are present. Self-awareness is critical, for you are the first line of defense to emotional and psychological well-being. Awareness is present, allow it, so that you engage in adjusting as needed.
• If you are overwhelmed, discuss with a peer, supervisor, family member, or, if needed, a professional person skilled in helping. It is confidential and undoubtedly appropriate.

It is not right to place our first responders and emergency workers secondary to other factions. Without them, we have no one to turn to; those critical services diminish, and more suffering and problems emerge. Personal awareness of pressing issues then become difficult to resolve satisfactorily.

The message is straightforward: Be attentive, talk with others, be aware of emotional, physiological, psychological, and social pressures. If pressures are present, seek understanding and then determine how to alleviate and minimize them to return to balance in life.

Your duties are critical, but personal wellness is too! When you consider the number of people and organizations that are dependent on your skills, knowledge, experience, and motivation, they are far more than we consciously think. Be well, each of you is your first line of defense!

Dr. Richard Lumb is a former Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Northern Michigan University and he is Emeritus from the State University of New York at Brockport where he was chair of the Criminal Justice Department. He has served in several community organizations including two-term Board Chairman of the York County Counseling Services and Chairman of the Governor's Mental Health Advisory Council for the State of Maine. He served on the Board of Directors for Tri-County Mental Health Services in Maine and is engaged with Maine Resilience, a program that focuses on managing stress, adversity and trauma. Maine Resilience is working the FEMA, Region I to bring resilience train-the-trainer programs to individuals and communities. Richard's web site: Maine Woods Organizational Developmental Services.