St. Paul rescue workers talk and help each other cope with tragedy – TwinCities.com
My favorite line from this article:
Though debriefings occur in the most serious cases, workers in emergency fields say the more informal talk after stressful situations helps them cope. At firehouses, it often happens around the kitchen table, Ortman said.
That’s a good reminder that it is our personal network that gives us resiliency, not the debriefers. These days, that’s one of the things I just about always say when kicking off a debriefing. We (the debriefers) are only here for an hour or two – it is your friends, your family, church or other network, that help you live with trauma.
Nick Arnett has been part of the Bay Area CISM Team since 2005, has led or help lead dozens of defusings and debriefings for first responders, schools and communities, including the Haiti earthquake, and assists in CISM training and events. He was a paramedic in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area in the late 1970s and 1980s, where he also headed the volunteer program for the