PTSD Education

[Aeromedic]

For those who don't know, I'll be graduating with my B.A in Psychology in 6 months from now. One of the projects I'm undertaking for my final semester is developing an education module on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I've had a few very nasty run ins with PTSD myself, and I was amazed at the lack of education about the signs and symptoms of PTSD as well as what can be done early on to help reduce the impact of it. I am planning on developing a powerpoint based course (about half an hour to an hour long) that is aimed at field level practitioners to help identify the symptoms in both yourself and those around you as well as some strategies for coping with stress in the workplace and at home. This isn't going to be an hour of psychobabble that you wish you could get back, rather, something that everybody from a MFR or Firefighter First Responder up to Critical Care Paramedics can find meaning in. I'm wondering how much interest there would be out there for something like this if I were to expand it from beyond my Health Region and made it available to others across Canada (and the US if so desired). The reason I'm asking is that if it is going to be used on a broader scale, I will have to tailor it more generally rather than using just the resources available within my region. Let me know if you think this would be useful for your service/area as well. (By the way, it will be free of charge)

[tskstorm]

For those who don't know, I'll be graduating with my B.A in Psychology in 6 months from now. One of the projects I'm undertaking for my final semester is developing an education module on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I've had a few very nasty run ins with PTSD myself, and I was amazed at the lack of education about the signs and symptoms of PTSD as well as what can be done early on to help reduce the impact of it. I am planning on developing a powerpoint based course (about half an hour to an hour long) that is aimed at field level practitioners to help identify the symptoms in both yourself and those around you as well as some strategies for coping with stress in the workplace and at home. This isn't going to be an hour of psychobabble that you wish you could get back, rather, something that everybody from a MFR or Firefighter First Responder up to Critical Care Paramedics can find meaning in. I'm wondering how much interest there would be out there for something like this if I were to expand it from beyond my Health Region and made it available to others across Canada (and the US if so desired). The reason I'm asking is that if it is going to be used on a broader scale, I will have to tailor it more generally rather than using just the resources available within my region. Let me know if you think this would be useful for your service/area as well. (By the way, it will be free of charge)

Vin, Sounds good to me bro. I don't see why not probably not a bad idea to be shown during a CISD or during a new hire orientation.

[Eydawn]

I'd love to see what you come up with. I think the presentation my SAR team has is pretty much along the lines of what you're developing, but fresh material is always good.

--Wendy

[maverick56]

I'd say go for it! I don't know about how it's seen or approached in the EMS community, being new to it, but if it's anything like the military community, it's not well understood and often seen as weakness. It is something that I personally struggle with and I have actually just recently started to really see and understand the problem and seek help. A site that was suggested to me (CombatPTSD.org)does a really great job of explaining just what PTSD is, the different ways it can manifest and more. I have found it extremely helpful. The same guy hosts a non-combat related site as well. PTSD Forum You may find some useful info/resources/ideas on them. Good luck!

[mobey]

I think PTSD awareness should be part of basic education.

I have many ems friends who have worked the local first nations reservations, and succumb to what we refer to as "Burnout" in as little as 1 year.

I am quite sure if these practitioners were properly assesed and diagnosed, they may be a candidate for a PTSD diagnosis.

[speedygodzilla]

Sounds like a great idea!

[Aeromedic]

I gotta say, I'm both encouraged by this thread and, well, disheartened. I'm very encouraged by the desire to have more education about stress, PTSD and ultimately, practitioner well being. Seeing that there may be a gap that I can take knowledge from my 2 passions and fill is an excellent motivator to create something "new" or at least improve upon what already exists.

What disheartens me is the feedback that I am getting about lack of programming in so many different places. Honestly, I was hoping that I would get a lot of replies of "Oh, good idea but we have a great program here" or "A fresh idea would be nice to compliment our XXX program." One of the up and coming "trends" in psychology is something called Psychological First Aid. Very much like CPR is saving lives, PFA is starting to save minds. There is some great research being done right now on a broad scale as to the efficacy of the initial interventions, but the early results (which I have seen, but can't re-publish) are VERY promising. Now, PFA isn't an EMS thing, its coordinated and executed by Psychologists, but its principles of early debrief and guided recovery from incident to acceptance are what I really want to drive home for people.

I must stress one big point, and I know I may offend a few people, and its not my intention, but it must be said. In House CISM debriefers and Counselors aren't psychologists. Some services outsource CISM to counseling firms where you will work with a psychologist, but the key is going through the process with a licensed clinical psychologist with experience in CISM and PTSD. The initial debrief, although very important, is only the first step to recovery. I'm sure everybody will agree with me that we rarely agree on anything... but we are all different. Finding the right approach for a person takes a lot of experience and training, and it is compounded by major traumatic events. Only a Psychologist (and occasionally Psychiatrist, but they train in very different ways)has the knowledge and base to work with you long term and create a solid treatment plan.

I will probably be starting on this project very soon, and I hope to have a draft/demo up by the end of the month. I'm lucky enough to have most of the research done, which is the hard part.

[rock_shoes]

I have many ems friends who have worked the local first nations reservations, and succumb to what we refer to as "Burnout" in as little as 1 year.

Having started in a rural community with a very high native population, I can relate. "Reservation Burnout" is a frequent occurrence. I suspect it has much to do with the fact that these people need help that no EMS caregiver can provide. All you can do for many of them is provide a listening ear and a concise report to the receiving facility in hopes the attending physician will refer them to the appropriate care. The "burnout" really kicks in when you pick up the same patient for the 20th time that year and that 20th pick-up becomes the patient’s last ride. The patient you've watched spiral out of control for the past year abusing drugs/alcohol has made their last "somebody please help me" suicide attempt. This time it took. Now you're doing the body removal because the local ambulance is the only appropriate vehicle for such duty within a 2.5 hour radius.

The worst thing I remember is watching former victims of residential school abuse given “the rope to hang themselves” by our own government. Instead of making appropriate psychiatric care available to them many were simply given a large cash lump sum. Then they could order their liquor delivered to them by taxi costs be damned! Drug and alcohol abuse skyrocketed in short order.

[Richard B the EMT]

Try the FDNY Counseling Services Unit (CSU). Someone there might be better with information than I have available.

http://nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/units/csu/index.shtml

[Aeromedic]

Try the FDNY Counseling Services Unit (CSU). Someone there might be better with information than I have available.

http://nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/units/csu/index.shtml

One of the professors that I am working with spent a fair bit of time working alongside the CSU in NY as well as the Traumatic Stress Response Group with the LAcoFD. There is great research and some great treatments and tools out there for it, and a lot of very large services have the resources and need to have full time staff (and even whole units) dedicated to it. The groups that I am targeting are those who are working for the services that contract out counseling and to try to help encourage people to seek the help that they need and to keep an eye out with partners and other co-workers to help spot symptoms before they become severe and possibly debilitating.

As a sidenote, I've been asked by an RCMP psychologist to help design a program for their supervisors to help spot traumatic stress and after-effects of first hand and vicarious trauma in members, so there may be a "supervisors edition" as well.