\u00a0<\/p>\n
In light of the Orlando night club shooting this week, I wanted to give you some information on the effects this kind of tragedy can have on first responders and what can be done as a police First off let me explain the concept of \u201cburst stress.\u201d\u00a0 Burst stress is the norm for police officers and first responders.\u00a0 Sgt. Friday of Dragnet said it best when he described police work as hours and hours of boredom surrounded by moments of sheer terror.\u00a0 Burst stress is that sheer terror.\u00a0 It is the amusement park rides that jerks you into the air and tosses you upside down to be caught just before you descend to your death (or puke in my case).\u00a0 In the amusement park it is fun for many (I actually hate those rides) as you know that you will probably not die or else the amusement park would have closed years ago.\u00a0 It is also over in a few seconds, then you go on.\u00a0 Not quite that way when it happens in real life.\u00a0 A first responder is in that situation, then he or she goes home and tries to get some sleep, wakes up the next morning and returns again to the same\u00a0 situation sometimes for weeks.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just feeling the jeopardy, but also seeing the death that makes them confront their mortality.\u00a0 When you handle mutilated bodies you picture yourself, your children and many others in that position and it is not pleasant.\u00a0 It haunts you.<\/span><\/p>\n One way you can try and start to moderate burst stress is by giving people a chance for their body to rest.\u00a0 There was an interesting study back when I was in college about nursing students that had a bus ride from their emergency room placement versus other than had no such bus ride.\u00a0 They found the student that had the bus ride were less uptight and anxious because the ride allowed them time to deprogram and talk to friends about the day.\u00a0 The students who were able to go directly home became more uptight as the semester progressed.\u00a0 (And they made worse dates for us guys.)\u00a0 This was the opposite of what they expected as they wanted to show the detriment of the commute, but instead they got contradictory results.\u00a0 In a mass disaster, having a cool off period after the day is a very healthy thing instead of releasing people immediately to go home.\u00a0 They don\u2019t necessarily process what happened by talking it out, although some may want to do that, but just a half an hour to relax can have a highly positive effect.\u00a0 It gets them away from the blood and bodies, or the evidence long enough so they can try and separate from it before they go home.<\/span><\/p>\n In the same line, forcing a two-day break after working seven, ten or twelve days in a row, can be tremendously therapeutic.\u00a0 One day is not really enough to get away from it all.\u00a0 Emergency workers are known to go until they drop, and gather as much overtime while it is available.\u00a0 A mandatory two days off after a week or so can make a big difference in the workforce.\u00a0 We particularly found this a good strategy after 9\/11, but also in other disasters.<\/span><\/p>\n Psychological debriefings are useful for some, but there is evidence that may not be useful for all.\u00a0 The timing is essential on debriefings.\u00a0 You have to make sure people are not still in the mix of working, or the mindset if not in the work.\u00a0 \u00a0In Oklahoma City, many of the emergency folks wanted to kill the social workers that were coming up to them to trying to get them to talk while they were trying to rescue the victims.\u00a0 Well-meaning doesn\u2019t mean well-timed. \u00a0Some people will greatly appreciate the mental health worker sitting with them and getting them to process; some may not be ready for weeks or even months.\u00a0 The clear message is to have a follow-up in these situations so people can talk it out.\u00a0 It is essential to have a follow-up a couple of months after all has cleared from the disaster, just as people are re-adjusting to life back to normal.\u00a0 This by the way goes for one-to-one interactions as well.<\/span><\/p>\n I cannot possibly overemphasize the need to make sure you staff is sleeping.\u00a0 What happens after these major incidents is that people\u2019s sleep pattern change and their bodies go on deficit.\u00a0 That get very scary at times and spells out a lot of problems down the road.\u00a0 One or two nights of good sleep is essential for them to get themselves reset.\u00a0 This needs to be told to people and a good trauma team has a physician available to make sure the emergency workers are sleeping.\u00a0 If not get them to their regular physician for a check.\u00a0 This is key and sleep can create more burnout and aberrant behavior than you ever want to deal with.<\/span><\/p>\n If possible, it is good and healthy to have a mental health training day also within a year of a major disaster.\u00a0 It need to be someone who will make them laugh as well as teach them good mental health technique.\u00a0 With large departments, this is not always possible.\u00a0 With smaller departments, you might want to combine with another department or two to find someone to come and that has a good way about them.\u00a0 Give the speaker a list and encourage them to send your first responders to good therapists after their speech.\u00a0 After 9\/11, I went in to talk to a group in Tampa that had a plane crash into a government building.\u00a0 I gave out my email address and you wouldn\u2019t believe how many used it asking for a referral.\u00a0 It was close to 55% of the audience.\u00a0 Myself and the EAP coordinator couldn\u2019t believe it.\u00a0 People find the need is stronger and the panic modes come out very strong after your department is attacked.<\/span><\/p>\n Now it is time to worry about yourself.\u00a0 If you are a police leader or a police psychologist, have a colleague or a shrink nearby to just run things over with.\u00a0 Make it a lunch or something.\u00a0 Modeling is the strongest way to make others know you believe in the work done in psychology, and you probably wouldn\u2019t even be reading this if you didn\u2019t.\u00a0 If your staff knows that you are willing to talk to someone they will be more likely to do that.\u00a0 And it will probably be good for you also.<\/span><\/p>\n Cues of a disaster site are important to assess.\u00a0 People tend to bring up past memories by some of the present cues, very often without even noticing it.\u00a0 On Flight 800, they rushed to build a helicopter pad to be used while I was warning that people who had military background may have strong reactions to a helicopter sound.\u00a0 I mentioned it to the commander at the site and they put the word out to the workers.\u00a0 We had many of the military guys thank us for the warning and said they did have an uneasy feeling but were glad they know where it was from. \u00a0John Nicoletti, a brilliant psychologist from Colorado who has worked many major incidents including Columbine and the Aurora theater, reports that people at shooting incidents often have a reaction to the smell of gunpowder.\u00a0 Many cues reactions can be lessened or avoided just by forewarning people.\u00a0 Look for the cue while it is going on, and look for the reactions long after, perhaps on the next incident.\u00a0 These kinds of things stay in our memories.<\/span><\/p>\n Regardless, whenever you are faced with a major casualty situation, it will be a big help to either know the psychology or bring people in who help inform you of the psychology in a situation and how your staff can best be prepared and helped afterwards.\u00a0 These situations are always difficult but with easy simple steps we can make them better and easier to deal with.\u00a0 This is only a few suggestions for after the problem, but there are many other things that can be done.<\/span><\/p>\n As all of us, our prayers and good wishes go out to all the first responders in Orlando, Florida as well of the victims families.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 To refer you elsewhere, John Nicoletti, Ph.D., ABPP wrote Violence Goes to Work<\/span>, Violence Goes to School<\/span>, Violence Goes to College<\/span>, and a new guide with the federal government called Preparing for the Unimaginable<\/span> about mass casualty situations.\u00a0 He is brilliant man and a good friend, and I will try to get him to write for us soon. \u00a0<\/p>\n Site Editor:\u00a0 Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Please share this article from down below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Please join the email list on the top of the sidebar and you can get these sent to your email.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Come back regularly for more updated articles on police psychology<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police Psychology | Mass Casualties by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0 In light of the Orlando night club shooting this week, I wanted to give you some information on the effects this kind of tragedy can have on first responders and what can be done as a police leader or psychologist to help the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17168887],"tags":[17168915,17168797,17168831],"class_list":["post-2824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","tag-mass-casualties","tag-police-psychology","tag-police-stress"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3689,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=3689","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | Theory of Relativity: Video Post","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"August 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The theory of relativity explained in simple terms and for first responders. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Emotions"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Emotions","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17165629"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3530,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=3530","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | Flight Lesson: Video Post","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"July 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I am trying something new this Friday with a video post.\u00a0 Let me know what you think. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Resilience"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Resilience","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168882"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6005,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=6005","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology: Good Stress: Bad Stress","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"May 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology:\u00a0 Good Stress: Bad Stress by Gary S. Aumiller Ph.D., ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Resilience"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Resilience","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168882"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5092,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5092","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6097,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=6097","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology: 27 Symptoms of Anxiety","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology:\u00a0 27 Symptoms of Anxiety \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Site Administrator:\u00a0 Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP Please share this article from down below. Please join the email list on the top of the sidebar and you can get these sent to your email.\u00a0 Also follow me on Twitter (https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThinBlueMind) for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Police Stress"","block_context":{"text":"Police Stress","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168885"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4767,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=4767","url_meta":{"origin":2824,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology: Holidays in Law Enforcement","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"November 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Holidays in Law Enforcement by\u00a0 Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Avoiding Being a Missing Person"","block_context":{"text":"Avoiding Being a Missing Person","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168886"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-Jy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2992,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2824\/revisions\/2992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"police](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/police-line.jpg?resize=426%2C206\")
leader or psychologist to help the situation.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I have worked on too many mass casualty situations, from TWA Flight 800, to the embassy bombings in Africa, to both World Trade Center bombings and quite a few in-between. \u00a0Being in the New York area I still have cops processing their work at 9\/11 and Flight 800.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n