WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-10-30 Time: 11:00:13 Posted By: Jan
By Clayton Barnes
About a quarter of all emergency workers, including police, traffic officers, paramedics and firefighters, suffer from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress, delegates attending the second International Road Traffic Accident and Reconstruction Conference have heard.
During a session on Tuesday on the effects of trauma on emergency workers, psychologist Mike Lacey-Smith said most of those affected were men, because they were more likely to bottle up their emotions and explode later in life.
He said research showed that most men believed they could just move on after seeing a decapitated body or a corpse burnt beyond recognition, but this was often not the case.
“People try to avoid the reality of the situation and trauma by blocking it out or putting it into a box,” said Lacey-Smith. “However, the only problem is, there is no box. Whatever is stored builds up over time, and will result in post-traumatic stress syndrome.”
Without a debriefing or a talk with colleagues, friends or family after a traumatic incident, it was almost guaranteed that an emergency worker would eventually suffer from depression or stress.
Lacey-Smith said emergency workers were often seen as super heroes with no emotions.
“People should realise these people are human beings,” he said. “They cry, have families and often struggle to deal with trauma.”
The first thing most emergency workers did when they got home after a rough day was to have a drink.
“This should be avoided at all costs,” he said. “Rather call a colleague, speak to your superiors to arrange a psychologist, or call a reliable friend who understands what you are going through. Alcohol and drugs can entrench the imagery after visiting an horrific murder scene or car crash.”
Lacey-Smith said critical stress debriefings should take place within 72 hours of the emergency worker returning from the scene of an accident.
“This will reduce the effects and symptoms of post traumatic stress,” he said.
Too many rescue and emergency workers used alcohol as a defence mechanism.
“It works for a while, as everything is pushed to the background, but the reality of the situation often catches up with you, which could result in an unhealthy family life, ill-health and in extreme cases, even suicide,” Lacey-Smith said.
Superintendent Rob Askew, a member of the national visible policing division, said emergency workers often did not recognise the significance of debriefing.
He said every male police officer was given a 24-hour trauma number to call for debriefing and counselling, but their male egos almost always got the better of them.
“They simply have too much pride, and they don’t recognise that bottling everything up could, at the end of the day, destroy their careers and their lives.”
Female police officers were, on the other hand, very open.
Askew urged emergency workers to go for debriefing sessions regularly, and to make use of their in-house psychologists before things became unbearable.
“The resources are available,” he said. “All the members need to do is to make use of them.”