EMS mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
An EMS provider and mental health expert discusses the impact COVID-19 can have on EMS providers' mental health and how they can cope with these challenges.
Disruptive behavior disorders are often misunderstood
In a video of a father and son arguing many people left comments placing blame on the parents. But when I watch the video, I do not see a parenting failure. I see a kid suffering from disruptive behavior disorders.
Teen depression: Know the signs and symptoms
An EMT shares his personal experience with suicide and the signs he and his family missed before his son made an attempt. Learn how teen depression differs from adult depression and which clues can alert you to an impending problem.
Are you aware of the emotional care bariatric patients need
As pre-hospital providers, we must develop and express additional plans in the event our original strategies fail to empathize with bariatric patients. Our ability to do this will provide an added sense of security and empowerment to their treatment, which may be something they never experienced in a medical setting.
Peer support networks can ease cumulative stress
Your health as a provider is a priority for your organization. When you understand cumulative stress disorder you can show your colleagues how much they are valued and how much you care about this growing epidemic.
Tips to tackle holiday stress during your EMS career
Thoughts of trying to make everyone happy during the holidays while making ends meet and not working oneself to death can cause major holiday stress. I’m certain many of us have this in the back of our minds as the holiday season approaches.
4 steps to manage first responder stress
It’s important to recognize that the constant stress and pressure of bad calls can build over time, weigh us down and cause problems for us down the road. How do we arm ourselves against first responder stress? The answer: self-care.
PTSD in first responders affects us all differently
The difficulty with PTSD in first responders is that it’s hard to spot. It’s easy to hear about a mass casualty incident, an active shooter or any number of large-scale, high-visibility incidents and think, “Wow, someone should check on those providers.” But PTSD is different for everyone and people need help might not be getting it.
Learn how to provide empathy in healthcare as an EMS
Empathy is a big part of our jobs, and we need to teach it to our students, our employees and each other. People need to feel that it’s OK to be empathetic and that it’s a natural part of the whole EMS picture.
Suicide epidemic touches us all in some way
Suicides are on the rise overall. In fact, I'd say we have a suicide epidemic. Statistics in a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown a 30% increase in suicides since 1999, Additionally, it is now one of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. — surpassing homicide.