Contrasting the Types of Traumatic Events That Firefighters, Police, and the EMTs are Exposed to and the Possible Psychological Impact

Contrasting the Types of Traumatic Events That Firefighters, Police, and the EMTs are Exposed to and the Possible Psychological Impact
Name
Institution
Contrasting the Types of Traumatic Events That Firefighters, Police, and the EMTs are Exposed to and the Possible Psychological Impact
Abstract
The first responders play a crucial role in helping the most vulnerable individuals during a crisis. This paper focuses on the different types of disasters that the firefighters, the police, and the EMTs face in their line of work. It is during these different traumatic events that they respond to that they develop varied mental conditions such as PTSD, stress, and also suicidal behavior.
Contrasting the Types of Traumatic Events That Firefighters, Police, and the EMTs are Exposed to and the Possible Psychological Impact
The first responders are the emergency individuals who are the first to arrive at a scene of a traumatic event or medical situation (Alexander & Klein, 2009). Individuals like firefighters, the police, and also EMTs offer assistance at the scene of the emergency such as accident, terrorist attack, fall, or a natural disaster. They are charged with the providing of medical emergencies until an ambulance arrives or before the individual reaches a healthcare facility. Depending of their nature of work or response, the firefighters, police officers, and the EMTs face different types of traumatic events. In this regard, the psychological impact for each of these first responders differs because of the variation in the trauma they face (Alexander & Klein, 2009). In regards to firefighters, they are psychologically impacted by PTSD, the police officers experience stress, while the EMTs face suicidal behavior.
Firefighters
Professional firefighting is regarded as one of the most dangerous and also highly stressful jobs. The firefighters respond to not only the fire-related accidents, but they are also trained as emergency medical technicians (Chung, Kim & Cho, 2008). On a daily basis, these responders experience a great deal of onslaught trauma and powerful human emotion. The types of traumatic events that firefighters witness include falling buildings, explosions, burn victims, terrorist attacks, dying children, people crushed by falling rubble, dismemberment, and death among others. These are horrific events to witness and prolonged exposure to this misfortune takes on a psychological toll causing distress even for the most experienced firefighters (Chung, Kim & Cho, 2008).
The most common psychological impact of these traumatic events that firefighters face is the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Chung, Kim & Cho, 2008). The prolonged exposure to such threatening, cruel, and upsetting events leave firefighters feeling hopeless and helpless, which triggers fright and fear. The major indicator of PTSD is the re-experiencing the traumatic event. Chung, Kim, and Cho (2008) note that re-reliving the trauma is a common occurrence for people who have experienced prolonged traumatic events. Re-experiencing the trauma is where a person has flashbacks creating physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, sweating and also having nightmares or frightening thoughts. The problem of re-experiencing the trauma is that it affects a person’s ability to conduct daily routines (Chung, Kim & Cho, 2008). For example, a firefighter may have recurring memories of removing a dead body from the debris of a fallen building. Every time he/she sees a tall building it triggers the memories and one begins to re-experience the trauma. Further, the individual with PTSD begins to avoid any reminders of the trauma (Chung, Kim & Cho, 2008). This means that the individual stays away from locations, events, or objects that remind of the traumatic occurrence. In the process feelings of being emotionally numb, guilt, depression, and worry crop up. The individual begins to lose interest and does not enjoy the activities he/she enjoyed in the past and at other times finds it hard to remember the traumatic event. A person begins to see a gloomy future and this can lead one to change personal routine to cope. For example, a firefighter may fear to go to a tall building and tries to avoid them as much as possible. Further, Chung, Kim, and Cho (2008) argue that PTSD also results in increased anxiety and having emotional arousal. The individual is startled easily, feels “on edge” often, cannot sleep well, and even has angry outbursts. The hype-aroused emotions increase when there is a reminder of the traumatic event.
Police
The work of the police is stressful because of being in contact with traumatic events on a regular basis. The police are responsible for apprehending criminals, detection of crime, and general public assistance, as well as maintaining public order. Police officers are first responders who encounter various cases of traumatic events. These include road accidents, domestic abuse, violent shootings, terrorist attacks, murder, assisting rape victims, child molestation cases, and arsons among others (Collins &...