Recently I was asked to come and speak at a state 9-1-1 conference. I got to the conference early and met with many different telecommunications operators from around the state. We were all joking around and sharing stories. Then someone asked me what I was presenting about. I told them, operators and stress.
“We don’t have no stinking stress,” one long term 9-1-1 operator joked. “Besides, I know the answer to that problem.”
“Really,” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he said seriously. “Drink.”
The sad thing about his statement was that often that is the coping mechanism used by operators affected by the stress unavoidable in their jobs. I told him that and furthered by explaining I’d be talking a bit more about that the next day. The next morning, I stood in front of a group of operators and shared my story. Holding nothing back, I talked about how stress is normal in our job, how our individual responses to stressful events affect us and the bad and good coping skills we could use to mitigate the effects. I shared my personal struggles. When I was done, I left the stage. Several people came up to me and thanked me for my honesty and said they related to what I said. Others, interestingly enough, seemed to avoid me. Astonished by the reaction, I had to stop and ask myself why. Then it occurred to me. We all seem to acknowledge that 9-1-1 dispatching is one of the most stressful jobs in the world but we don’t talk about it.
Stoicism
“You’re a 9-1-1 operator? I could never do that job. It must be so stressful.”
How many times in a career do we hear this or similar statements? Our responses usually consist of a sheepish grin and acknowledgement. “It can be,” we say. Our demeanor often reflects the stoic attitude of it’s just part of the job. It’s like blood and medics. At many points during your career, you’re just going to end up with blood on you. Unfortunately, unlike a medic, we never take universal precautions to stress although it can be just as much of a health hazard.
Just Deal with It
Like the stoicism we show when others ask us about stress, internally among our co-workers, we trivialize the stress that we deal with. “I’m so stressed out,” we’ll moan after working our third double in five days. Usually this is accompanied by eating something fried or covered with chocolate. We expect there to be stress day in and day out but we don’t expect ourselves to get affected by it. There is a kind of disconnect that is born with a “we just deal with it” attitude. Unfortunately, our head might be saying that we are dealing with it but our bodies are singing a completely different tune. Internally, we are trying to dissipate the adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol that continue to surge through us. Our bodies are in a prepare to fight or flight then fight or flight rollercoaster. We start to have physical, mental and emotional consequences because of this pattern. Kevin Gilmartin, Ph.D. calls this the Hypervigilance Rollercoaster and it is one of the most destructive consequences of the first responder profession.
Group Coping
Like the gentleman at the conference whose response to my topic of stress was drink it away, we have a culture of unhealthy coping mechanisms. Getting together to drink is common. In my day it was called Choir Practice. I’ve been informed that it is now called Book Club. Even though that brings to mind a classy group of ladies getting together to have a glass of wine and discuss the latest literature, it’s not like that at all. Often it involves way too much drinking way too often. After all, alcohol does have an effective way of sedating and numbing. Unfortunately, it often creates more problems than it solves and it certainly doesn’t help in bodies that are already ravished by the consequences of stress. Interesting enough, a part of this type of behavior actually is very helpful and is beginning to see more and more popularity. Getting together to tell war stories is at the heart of peer support. Warriors joining together to talk about the events of the day has been occurring since the dawn of time. When we share stories with others who understand and have walked in our shoes, we are able to normalize and integrate our experiences diminishing the effects of stress. If we can do this without the alcohol, we have an affective coping skill.
Pack Mentality
If an operator were to burst into tears on the floor or freeze during an officer-involved emergency, his or her co-workers would be the first to judge harshly. We like to look at someone who is being affected by stress and say, “They just can’t cut it, or “They can’t handle the job.” In this same vein, when we feel our own armor beginning to crack or more accurately when we feel our own armor beginning to grow, we ignore it. We certainly don’t talk about it. We shy away from those who seem affected by the work as if it is catching. What’s ironic is the effects of stress are contagious but they aren’t coming from your sick co-workers. They are coming from the calls and the radio traffic and your home life and your relationships. They’re born from internal and external factors.
For some reason nobody wants to talk about the effects of stress even though research has shown that it is inevitable in first responders. We still look at first responders who are willing to go public with their struggles with post traumatic stress, secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue and say how brave they are. We wish them well in their recovery while at the same time refuse to see that they are not the exception but the rule in this business. Until we are willing to acknowledge that stress is a part of every operator’s job and take steps as individuals and agencies to mitigate it, we will continue to slowly kill ourselves in isolation. Professionals who type a lot get carpal tunnel unless they take steps to prevent it. First responders get stress and they get depressed, anxious, and physically ill unless they take steps to prevent it. We’ll be able to see this when we stop viewing ourselves as invincible and start helping ourselves and each other.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
