You are not alone. All of us are having the same problems. Our relationships aren’t working, our choices are creating more problems than they solve, and our negative emotions are out of control.
But, because there is actual danger in the work you do, First Responders are exposed to situations that can cause more intense versions of these problems.
As a First Responder, you need to be taught the skills that enable you to handle the negative emotions that are part of working in dangerous situations so they don’t seriously hurt you, the people you work with, and maybe most important, the ones you love, because that will hurt you more than anything else.
But, First Responders are among the most difficult groups to convince to learn new skills, especially ones that may not appear to have anything to do with their careers. Most of that comes from unrealistic out-of-date attitudes and impossible expectations like a sign in a firehouse that says. Failure is not an option
I’ve done over 40,000 anesthetics and I can tell you one thing for sure. You cannot save them all. You may well be their best chance, you may be their only chance, but sometimes, they have no chance. Sometimes they are just too hurt to survive, or too sick to survive.
All any of us can do is our very best. That’s one of the most important reasons you need the skills to manage your problems. When someone needs you, they need your best. They may need all you have to give. And you need to be able to give it.
Having problems with negative emotions keeps you from being able to do your best. If your patient needs 100% of what you can give and you cannot give it, both of you are going to suffer, your patient who did not get your best, and you because you did not give your best.
Nothing feels greater than saving a life, but nothing feels worse than thinking you might have been able to.
We are extremely harsh judges of our own lives, especially when it comes to kinds of choices we make about the patients who need us to take care of them, and the people we have promised to take care of.
There are some other reasons I chose to work with First Responders. When people show up for one of my seminars, I know nothing about them. But I think I know a lot about First Responders. You are a fairly uniform group.
As a group…
You are taught basically the same skills.
You have the same problems.
You handle them the same way. Actually, I should say you Don’t handle them the same way.
The treatment options for your problems are the same.
And the available treatments are not as effective as they need to be.
I am not the only one who knows this. This is not a secret. When a First Responder commits suicide every 36 hours, it gets everyone’s attention.
The inescapable truth for all of us is that if we knew what needed to do to make our lives what we wanted them to be, we would already be doing it.
I can teach First Responders the skills they need to prevent serious emotional injuries and keep them safe and stable, on the job, and at home.
For more about the online course, Life Is All About Skills, follow the link.