Debriefing. Get it off your chest.

[BigRed323]

Found this posted up on the internet and got me thinking. A lot of us on here, whether it be EMS, Fire, LEO, or military, have seen things or had to make choices that can affect a person mentally for their entire life, some worse than others. Just thought that maybe it'd be a good idea to have a place here that anyone can find someone to talk to if there is something they need to get off their chest whether it be something in the past or something that you might see tomorrow. I know a couple of guys that have kept things bottled in from the job and have felt much much better after talking about. And it may also be easier to talk about here than to someone face to face. I know Talking about it isn't for everyone, but if helps someone, it's worth it.

[elkbowhunter]

honesty

[1FowlHnTR]

As a combat veteran with a 04-05 tour to Baghdad under my belt I have plenty of demons....they are best left in the closet though. The 08-09 tour to Iraq was actually therapeutic if you can call a war zone that....I got to work Civil Affairs and help alot of kids, so it made my first tour in hell much more rewarding the 2nd go 'round.

[BigRed323]

As a combat veteran with a 04-05 tour to Baghdad under my belt I have plenty of demons....they are best left in the closet though. The 08-09 tour to Iraq was actually therapeutic if you can call a war zone that....I got to work Civil Affairs and help alot of kids, so it made my first tour in hell much more rewarding the 2nd go 'round.

Completely Understandable. You've found a way to deal with it and that's what matters

[xman59]

I actually understand the issues, 30 years as a street cop,,,,, if not for Jesus and a very good wife,,, I would not have ever made retirement,, 3 years later I have not forgotten any of it,,, but for every single one who deals with these kinds of issues...... never quit living,, never try to drink them away... make plans for the future and live them.....

don't be afraid to walk away from it,, the ones who matter understand,, the ones who don't understand,, do not matter!!!

[Jeremy7306]

Sneaks up at times. I agree it's good to talk about our inner demon's, but not to just anyone. Talking to someone who doesn't do our job - ems/fire/pd/military- couldn't quite understand. It's worked for me more than once. It's the best and worst job in the world all at the same time.

[txfireguy2003]

This is a great idea, as long as we use it, and are careful about details released. Many of you will remember a thread I started a couple years back about a young mother who was involved in a fiery auto accident and had her legs burned off from the knees down. Listening to another human being burned to death, literally, screaming in fear and pain the whole time, never losing consciousness, is absolutely something you never forget. Seeing the leg and foot bones of the woman you just pulled from her truck as you lay her down on the stretcher and load her into the helicopter, all while she's still talking to you (but high as a kite on pain killers by that point), is something you never forget. The thread I posted here, asking for prayers for her and my crew members, combined with the responses I got, was better medicine for me than the mandatory debriefing we did the next shift. I'm man enough to admit that i cried like a baby reading that thread, all the kind words offered up here and all the prayers uttered on bended knee. I still look it up from time to time when i think of her, we still talk about that Friday the 13th at the station. It really does help. Guys, especially you young guys who are new to the service (be it fire, police, EMS, military, whatever), use this thread, use the support available at your departments, it'll save your life, i promise. And don't be ashamed to cry, it's just your body's pressure release valve doing its job.

On a happy note, I'm not sure if I told you all, but the TBH prayer team worked on that call. Mandy is now walking again on prosthetics, raising her children and doing well. They gave her a 20 percent chance at survival, but she not only survived, she succeeded! She and her family came back and took us all (everyone involved in the incident) out to dinner. They wanted to thank us. I wanted no part of a thank you, except to thank HER for fighting and beating the odds. We go into this career to help people, to save lives, and all too often, it's just not possible. When someone pulls through after you worked so hard to keep them with us....that's more rewarding than anything anyone could ever say or do for me. That's GOD saying "Thanks, job well done, I've got it from here." In my book anyway.

[Buckshot-73]

I remember a particular extrication that took 90 plus mins. To complete. I was first on, guy was begging me to get him out. He passed looking at me as soon as we got him out of the wreck.


Still see him often, and it's been 12 yrs. since it happened.

[8pointer]

So much respect for all Ems, fire, Leo and military!!!! God bless you all!!!!

[Jeremy7306]

That's a great outcome txfire! You know as well as I do that most calls like that have an unfavorable outcome. In the past month or so me and my partner have worked 5 cardiac arrests, only 2 were ROSC , both ended up dieing. But we take pride in the fact that we (and FWFD) gave the family an extra day or two to be able to make their peace. There are those certain bad calls that sometimes just pop up in your head out of no where ya know? I get that alot. One that pops up frequently is a motorcycle wreck from Christmas before last, 2 days before Christmas actually, ran a call at the FD just down the road from my station 1. The guy had rode his motorcycle into a tree. I was on first and alone with bystander CPR in progress, probably 5 min after first tone dropped. By myself with a little help from the bystanders I continued CPR and got him on the monitor until my other truck from station 2 got there. No obvious injuries that I could see but I knew he was gone. Worked him though for over 20 min. I've replayed that call over and over. Just 1 of many bad memories in almost 9 years of fire and over 2 years ems. I don't let it get to me though. My Co workers are a great support system. This thread could be a great support system too!

[Firecuss]

Great Thread
20 years of it. I have a few bottled up inside.
texfire, know what ya mean about those CISD rounds of leaky eyes.
I have a few questions for the man upstairs when that day comes.

[UltraMax]

Got called one time to a mentally ill child (14 yoa) that was walking naked down the roadway. By the time I found him he was dressed but had his polo shirt on inside out. He was also walking down the side of the road and not being dangerous. I asked him his name and he told me, he didn't know his address but knew his moms phone number. This kid was friendly enough but spoke about being on different planets and about being in a time warp, anyway his mom came and got him, she was clean and I didn't feel that he was intending on killing himself and that releasing him to his mother was the best option (any other option would've been illegal because I had nothing to further detain him on). So I released him back to his mother.

2 hours later dispatch sends me to a major accident on the interstate where a vehicle had hit a pedestrian; you guessed it, that 14 yoa kid was lying dead in the roadway, he had left the house again and went to the interstate and gotten hit by an F150 going 70mph.

It kind of effed with me for a bit until my Corporal and Sergeant made it a little easier. They told me I did all that I could, and the kid wanted to play in the street; that he had just picked the wrong street to play in and that nothing showed that he wanted to kill himself.

[kumathebear]

Talking always helped me and my partners, but that was in the days they did not use the term PTSD. One of the worst things I had happen was a Paramedic student of mine got killed. He was looking over the top of his Big Box unit as his partner was backing up under a roof at a nursing home. Mark was making sure the radio antenaes cleared and forgot about a low hanging beam. It caught his head and I will NEVER forget the panicked radio call from his partner for assistance. One unit responded to help and my partner and I met them at the Level 1 Trauma center as they arrived. When I opened the back door it was a nightmare. We got him inside but of course it was MUCH too late and nothing could be done. All the ED staff and ALL of us were simply in a state of shock...when a brother/sister goes down it is a much different loss than we see every day. Our entire shift was sent home and the next day we had the FIRST "debriefing" ever done in Lubbock County. I have to say it did help most of us just being able to vent. I've been able to be both a LEO, Paramedic and Fireman over the many years and would not trade the experiences or the ability to help others. But, you pay a price as the memories can be hidden, but they are always there. Bless you all who serve and always have at least ONE who will listen and understands. Don't keep it bottled up as it will always find a way to come out.

[BigRed323]

On a happy note, I'm not sure if I told you all, but the TBH prayer team worked on that call. Mandy is now walking again on prosthetics, raising her children and doing well. They gave her a 20 percent chance at survival, but she not only survived, she succeeded! She and her family came back and took us all (everyone involved in the incident) out to dinner. They wanted to thank us. I wanted no part of a thank you, except to thank HER for fighting and beating the odds. We go into this career to help people, to save lives, and all too often, it's just not possible. When someone pulls through after you worked so hard to keep them with us....that's more rewarding than anything anyone could ever say or do for me. That's GOD saying "Thanks, job well done, I've got it from here." In my book anyway.

That is awesome man. That's what makes dealing with the initial scene so much easier. I worked a rolllover ejection last year, got on scene, and found one of the most mangled bodies I have ever seen lying motionless on the ground. Thought for sure she was DOS but then took a breath and was agonal. We worked her with little hope for bringing her back, but managed to get a strong pulse back. Got her to ER and that was that. Few weeks down the road, we find out that besides being paralyzed from the waist down, she made a full recovery from the waist up despite the trauma she sustained and found out she has two kids. Never heard anything from her, but one of my buddies looked up her name on facebook and her profile picture was a picture of her smiling with her two kids in the hospital, that was enough of a thank you for me.

[savin yours]

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