Stress Management

Emergency responders should understand and practice stress management. A little stress helps you to perform your job with more enthusiasm and focus, but too much stress can drive you to exhaustion or death.

Watch for these physiological symptoms:

Increased pulse, respiration or blood pressure

Trouble breathing, increase in allergies, skin condition or asthma

Nausea, upset stomach or diarrhea

Muffled hearing

Headaches

Increased perspiration, chills, cold hands or feet or clammy skin

Feeling weakness, numbness or tingling in part of body

Feeling uncoordinated

Lump in throat

Chest pains

Cognitive reactions may next occur in acute stress situations; many of the signs are difficult to self-diagnose.

Short term memory loss

Disorientation or mental confusion

Difficulty naming objects or calculating

Poor judgment or difficulty making decisions

Lack of concentration and attention span

Loss of logic or objectivity to solve problems

Perhaps the best thing to do as you start a shift is to find someone that you trust and ask them to let you know if you are acting a bit off. If at some time they tell you they’ve noticed you’re having difficulty, then perhaps it’s time to ask for some relief. Another idea is to have some sort of stress management training from your group before a disaster occurs.