While driving back to Concord’s Central Station fire station, Michael Kelly put his feet up on a stretcher in the back of the ambulance and closed his eyes.
Being a paramedic is exhausting, both physically and mentally, and you should rest whenever you can. They respond to types of trauma – car crashes, overdoses, fires. They don’t panic. They rely on training.
“There’s nothing that really excites me. I’ve been doing this long enough that I can put my emotions aside until after that,” Kelly said. I expect to get sick.It’s only troublesome when the unexpected happens like a child, but it’s easier for older people to deal with.”
That wasn’t always the case for Kelly, especially when she began her military career in 2006. Flight After several tours in the Middle East as his medic, Kelly struggled with anxiety due to the trauma of war and senseless deaths. , sleep and PTSD, he said. Before leaving for Iraq and Afghanistan, Kelly worked as a nurse and paramedic, so I thought he was prepared for what he might see while serving abroad. was
“I didn’t ask for help until 2017 after I married my wife,” he said. “It was a friend of mine who told me he was meeting someone with similar anxiety and sleep deprivation problems. I was.
Through counseling, Kelly learned to talk about her fears and experiences, and volunteered for the Concord Fire Department’s Peer Support Group. Beth Davin is a paramedic and firefighter, and he is often triggered by the demands of general anxiety. jobs.
“I’ve always managed it pretty well, but I feel like work adds to that,” Davin said. reading or doing therapy can help you recognize your triggers and come up with new ways to eliminate them, whether you’re on the shift or at home.”
A peer support group run by eight volunteer members, including Kelly and Davin, whose purpose is to support first responders and provide them with resources for talking, de-stressing, and counseling. is to provide space for
In addition to peer support groups, the Concord Fire Department is working to implement policies that allow supervisors to shut down stations, call peer support groups after important calls, and make decisions to send someone home. teaming up Re-triggered by a call.
“I’ve been on calls that needed a break after the call, and I didn’t have one,” Davin said. “I hope to do better to help someone in the future so they don’t have to go through that experience.”
From conversations and encounters with peers, Davin said the root of their stress and anxiety was the steady increase in service inquiries the sector had seen over the past few years, especially during the pandemic, and what they had been doing. I think I’m running out of time. She said it was to process what she saw during the call.
Concord Fire Chief Jonathan Chisholm said, “I see people in the worst situations in their lives and they can’t get out of it. It takes a toll.”
Over the past decade, the mental health conversation has changed, and the stigma around speaking up for help has largely disappeared, says Kelley.
“When I enlisted in 2006, I had to go out there with a strong spirit to get the job done, but the problem was coming back,” he said. There were signs that he was ill, but no one was aware of it and was not receiving treatment.”
It wasn’t until ten years later that Kelly opened up about her struggles and asked for help.
“With the military and fire and EMS, you have to keep pushing things forward, so you have to push things down,” Davin said. ”
Counselors are now better equipped and trained to support the mental health of first responders. First responders, on the other hand, are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness in their colleagues.
Not all professional therapists understand the needs and culture of emergency responders, which can make finding help more difficult.
That’s why peer groups are so important, Davin and Kelly say.
“This is a big part of our support team and why we try to bring them together,” says Kelley.
“They understand what we go through. Without your spouse or support system on site, it can be very difficult to explain what your bad day could have been and its burden.” I don’t want them to bear the burden of
Through ongoing efforts, Chisholm, Kelly and Dubbin will strengthen peer support with additional engagement from other fire departments in the Concord area, provide mental health training to first responders, and help firefighters address mental health. We are working to create a policy for
If someone you know is a first responder struggling with mental health, contact Kelley at mkelley@concord.nh.gov or Davin at edavin@concord.nh.gov to Please help find resources in your area.
