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"Hey, (insert bosses name here) I can't make it into work today." "Hey, I'm feeling bad today, can't make it in." When you decide to play "hooky", do you ever think about why you feel the need to miss work? Is it due to the fact that you just can not stand it any more? Or maybe you are so stressed out, the thought of going back to work literally makes you sick. This is the case for many, MANY emergency services workers who are suffering from depression, general life stress compounded with work stress, or PTSD. The simple fact is, that if you do not get yourself treated, be it by anxiety medication, or seeing a counselor, it is NOT going to get better on its own. We work in too stressful of an environment for things like stress to go untreated, all it will do is keep building and building until one day, you break. Maybe you just miss a few days of work because of it, or maybe you miss a lot more, which in turn causes you to lose your job.. Now what? Not only that, but in a smaller center like many of you work in, if you are laying out of work with a false reason, PEOPLE KNOW. So now they're pissed off at you, because their workload just increased so you can lay at home, so when you get back to work there is animosity. Guess what that does? LEADS TO MORE STRESS! So before your bad day turns into a bad week, then a bad month and year, get help! Talk to your director, most centers have a counselor on the books for this exact scenario, and it does help! I am no counselor, but am more than happy to talk to anyone about anything, always an open ear. Go to my contact page and shoot me an email! **p.s. Pick up one of my shirts today to help fund the blog**
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I know we have a wide variety of people, from all walks of life that are on this page.. So let's hear some stories! Maybe it is an interaction you've had with an officer, or a firefighter, maybe you had to call 911.. Good experiences, funny experiences and everything in between! Comment below or email me at [email protected]
I plan on mixing the site up just a little bit... Focusing on stress 24/7 can be.. well, stressful! I'm going to start posting more about happening news in the 911/Emergency Services world, maybe try to get a few interviews in with people... If you have any suggestions feel free to email me, or drop a comment below!
Thanks, Jake Day to day, week to week, it all starts to feel like mush, doesn't it?
You wake up and go to the same old job, doing the same old things, time and time again. Maybe you've only been doing it 2 months, 2 years or 2 decades, everyone starts to experience burnout (If you don't, please teach me your ways). When this happens, if you can't follow methods listed in previous articles, vacationing, hobby, etc.. You MUST make work a fun place to be at! Change up the environment before you yourself become the emergency. How can you help others if you can't help yourself, right? Boring office chairs? Switch them out for the comfortable and ergonomic yoga ball! We had a few in our center for awhile (given now one is remaining and sometimes used for a foot rest), but while they lasted it was fun between calls, balancing away and typing! Maybe you just need to get everyone working together so clocking in doesn't feel like such a daunting task! Try dispatch bingo! Make the words things like "Fire Hydrant", "Smoke", "Back Pain", etc. you can even do big bingo cards (huge) and do shift vs shift! Another fun one we do during Christmas time, which can be adapted to any season, is "Find The Elf". Where you hide an Elf On The Shelf in various locations in the radio room, and leave clues/hints for the next shift. It's super fun to get creative! So don't let the boredom of work and burnout get you down, find a reason to WANT to come to work, be it to have fun, to see your friends, or to learn something new, only YOU can control the outcome of your own tomorrow. "Stress & The Telecommunicator" Just one of the many, many classes taught by LEOTTA (Law Enforcement Technology Training Associates) Communications Technology division. Taught by the one and only, Nancy Jewitt. (https://www.leotta.co/ct-105.html) "This course will assist students in identifying the different types of stress that affect professional telecommunicators and explain the causes, signs and symptoms of these stressors. Students will differentiate between job-related and personal stress and how to recognize when someone you work with is in a "stress emergency.” Students will also be armed with appropriate tools to help alleviate stress and assist law enforcement administrators with developing policies for defusing, debriefing, and follow-up care of dispatch personnel. The role of the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team will be reviewed as well as available resources to get help for yourself, a co-worker, a friend, or a family member. Covered Topics Include: Many of the challenges new dispatchers face will be reviewed, including: •Mass casualty incidents/natural disasters Officer-involved incidents •Line-Of-Duty-Death / death within the department •Incidents involving family or friends •Injury/death of an infant or small child •Hostage/SWAT situations •Suicides The physiological affects that constant stress has on the body will be reviewed as well as how to realistically and positively cope with the stress of the job, and protecting yourself from burn-out. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions, share opinions, and express ideas as Day 2 of the course provides an open symposium in which guest dispatchers who have experienced career incidents discuss those incidents and their physical and psychological responses to such incidents. Who Should Attend? This course is for public safety dispatchers who have more than one year professional experience or telecommunicators who have been exposed to stressful and strenuous situations in the public safety environment. Public safety dispatch supervisors are also encouraged to attend this course to understand the needs of their personnel when subjected to stressful environments. Contact for LEOTTA: [email protected] 2165031113 Get up for work. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Get up for work. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Get up for work. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Get up for work. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. This might be your everyday life, I know it was mine for a long while. If that is all you do, and it works for you, great! Problem being, this doesn't really work for anyone, long-term. This might last you a couple weeks, months, maybe even a year... but eventually the inevitable happens, you get tired of the same ol' same ol'. So what now? Go get a drink after work with friends, or binge watching a television show on Netflix. Possibly start going to the local bar every night to meat your one true love (for the single dispatchers out there) (p.s. *spoiler alert* you probably aren't finding mr or mrs right in the local pub). We all start trying to fill the gaps in our lives with SOMETHING.. It's just that something usually isn't one of the best things for us to be doing. Healthy Habits- Get a hobby/habit that you can stick to on a regular basis to help you unplug from the stressful work we do. Try hitting up your local fitness center, see if they offer any classes like Kick Boxing, Yoga, Cycling, etc. Or for us here in the south, we always can fall back on going shooting, going to the local lake and fishing for a few hours of the day or even just going to enjoy nature on one of the many, many walking trails within 30 minutes of us. If none of the "healthy" options appease your time consuming appetite, try learning a new skill! There is literally thousands upon thousands of videos for anything and everything you might want to learn on the internet. Want to DIY your house? Spruce up your garden? There's instructional videos and articles on that all over the web. Whether you're getting active, just getting out, or filling you brain with knowledge.. find something that interests you the most, that DOESN'T negatively effect your health, stick to it, and do the best you can at it! Hello followers! I would really like to make use of the "Ask a Dispatcher" page here, if you go to the top right of the page, and fill out the form with any question or concern you might have, whether it is a fellow dispatcher asking a question, or a non-dispatcher wanting to know how something works - or why it is the way it is... Submit your questions and I will post them on the page ANONYMOUSLY. Also, if you have a stress related incident or something you would like to talk about, feel free to contact me and I will reply as soon as I can, or point you in the direction of the person who can best answer your question. I can't wait to have a drink. Oh my God, I am so stressed I NEED a beer. I can't wait for my Friday so I can have a drink! ... We've all been there, but when does your "Friday" start happening every day of the week? Are you finding yourself stopping at the gas station after every shift to pick up a six pack? To some of you that might sound ridiculous, but to others, it's a reality. One day of drinking leads to two, three, four.. before you know it you have someone hungover, or worse, drunk, at the dispatch console. Not only is it terrible for your health ( everything is okay in moderation) but it could be detrimental to your county you dispatch for, and your center as a whole if you show up unable to preform your job functions at 110%. Get help. You can try to do it yourself, It might work! There are many, many resources across the internet to help you do so, such as Kevin O'Hara's book "Hang Loose Without Booze: 81 Simple Tools to Stress Less and Relax More Without Drinking Alcohol". Whether it's you, or maybe you get the book or a similar one for a friend, it helps. In O'Hara's book he really hits it home with his advice on how to handle your drinking problem. ** This book is not a substitute for a physician or medical advice ** Alcohol is a short term fix for a long term problem, we all like to have a drink every now and then, and that's perfectly fine! When you start having to hide it, or when it interferes with your normal day to day life.. that's when the issue arises, and believe it or not, alcohol is a depressant, so cheers to a better mood! Basically, its NOT going to solve and problems, refer back to my earlier blog http://dispatcherdown.weebly.com/home/finding-the-focal-point for tips on reducing stress in your life! "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail" - Kevin O'Hara
I'm tired of this place. I can't work one more shift. They're out to get me. I'm the only one that gets into trouble. Sayings we have ALL heard at one point in our career (some on a daily basis), question is.. are you the one saying them? Do you feel like no matter what you do, nothing is good enough for your center/agency? Once you get on this negative track, it can and will be a very, very dark place that is hard to get out of. If you catch yourself feeling this way, it's best to stop that train long before it ever leaves the station, because its a downhill slope and there's no brakes. Ask yourself, why do you feel this way? Maybe you are being singled out.. more than likely though that isn't the case. Just about EVERYONE gets into trouble at some point in their career, and depending on the personality type you have, one incident can lead to many others. One day you forget to put a unit "On Scene", you get written up.. you get soooo focused on not doing that again, you forget to put both units enroute ("enroot" for the northerners LOL ) like you needed to, or you forget to status check them every few minutes ( if you all do that in your center). Needless to say, it is a snowball effect more than it isn't. The best thing you can do, is to STOP WORRYING! It will never get you anywhere in life being worried, other than feeling ill, trust me, I've been there on several occasions! Keep your head up, put a smile on your face, and be confident. Confidence not only reflects on your peers, but it makes you feel better at the end of the day, like you can conquer the world (or your county). The best way to do this, is de-stress before you get to work. Everyone will be different, but for me, I have a 30 minute drive to work, I use that time to absolutely jam out! So if that is what might help you, try it, crank the volume up and sing like no one is watching (except at redlights, they DEFINATELY watch). Or maybe for you ladies (or men, I don't judge) it is taking a relaxing bath before you head in for your 12 hour shift you could try some stress relief foam bath --> http://amzn.to/2qbPEBS . So de-stress, keep a clear mind, hold you head up high and walk into work like you own the place! |