The following contribute to wellness and resilience. Wellness is the active pursuit of a state of good health. Resilience is the capacity of an individual to cope with and recover from distress. Nutrition — have control over proper nutrition, which is necessary to keep your body fueled. Limit the consumption of sugar, fats, sodium, and alcohol. Carry small snacks like nuts and yogurt. Regular exercise will enhance the benefits of maintaining good nutrition and adequate hydration. Need 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Fatigue can lead to hypertension, sleep apnea, respiratory issues, diabetes, depression, and other medical conditions.
What can help with wellness:
Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet
Ensure a minimum of 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day
Strengthen positive relationships with close family and friends
Build relationships with peers and colleagues
Incorporate daily stretching, movement, and exercise
Build habits of mindfulness and positivity
Strategies to manage stress:
Eliminate stress as much as possible
Change partners to avoid a negative or hostile personality
Change work hours
Change work environment
Cut back on overtime
Change your attitude about the stressor
Talk about your feelings with people you trust
Seek professional counseling
Don’t obsess over situations that you are unable to change, such as relapsing alcoholics and nursing home transfers; focus on delivering high-quality care
Adopt a more relaxed, philosophical outlook
Expand your social support system beyond your coworkers
Develop interests outside emergency services
Yoga, deep breathing, physical exercise, meditation, limit intake of caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco use
It is important to differentiate infectious disease and communicable disease. An infectious disease is a medical condition caused by the growth and spread of harmful organisms within the body. A communicable disease can be spread from a person or species to another. A pathogen is a microorganism that is capable of causing disease in a susceptible host. Contamination is the presence of pathogens or foreign bodies on or in an object such as dressings, water, needles, etc. Exposure is a situation in which a person has had contact with blood, body fluids, tissues, or airborne particles in a manner that may allow disease transmission to occur. PPE prevents exposure to a pathogen or other hazardous condition.
There are many different routes of disease transmission. There is direct contact, which is a cut on the finger and directly touching someone else’s blood. There is indirect contact, which is touching the door that someone else sneezed on. There is airborne transmission, which occurs through droplets in the air or on a surface. To protect against this, don PPE (mask and gloves), practice good hand hygiene, do laundry, and stay up to date with immunizations. There could be foodborne transmission, which could lead to illness. Ensure raw meat does not come into contact with other foods; proper cleaning of food preparation surfaces before and after use also helps to decrease the likelihood. There is also vector-borne transmission, where the illness travels from animal to person. Things like insect repellent can help with these. Always be careful around needles; otherwise, you run the risk of bloodborne illness. Safe handling of sharps; please also be mindful of any open cuts and avoid exposure to blood, double or triple gloving if needed.
When donning and doffing full PPE, it is important to do it properly to avoid any contamination. The mask should always be the last PPE to be removed because you don’t want to touch your face with contaminated gloves. Apply N95 mask, assure there is a tight seal. Don eyewear, goggles; gloves are donned last. Be sure to pull the cuffs up and over your gown. Take off gloves as described, remove eye protection, tilting it forward to remove and then decontaminate, remove gown breaking the ties, pull arms out while pulling gown inside out, being careful not to touch the contaminated side. Clean hands after discarding gloves. Remove mask, then wash hands thoroughly. Wash hands properly before and after.
Some of the steps en route and to determine that the scene is safe are as follows. En route to the scene make sure PPE is out and available. On arrival, identify and address safety hazards, then perform a rapid scan of the patient, noting whether any blood or body fluids are present. Select the proper PPE according to the tasks you are likely to perform, gloves and protective eyewear. Change gloves, wash hands, and don PPE as quickly as possible to minimize time spent before care. If your partner is exposed, try to relieve one another so that you can seek care, notifying the designated officer and reporting the incident. Whenever possible, cleaning should be done at the hospital. Bleach and water 1:10. First priority must be your own safety — notice any suspicious person. Before you get to the scene, prepare yourself mentally and physically. Transport yourself safely to the scene — scene must be well marked — warning tape to slow oncoming traffic — make sure to always create a barrier with your vehicle between traffic and the scene. Wait for firefighters to clear the scene if you are unsure. When working at night, make sure you have plenty of light — reflective vest. Hazardous materials — look at any labels and placards for a scene. You should not care for patient until removed from scene. Electric with a downed wire safety zone is a perimeter one span of the utility pole around the line. Lightning — if you feel charge, slight tingling on your skin, hair standing on end, a strike may be imminent, prepare — remove metal — hiking poles, walk the way you walk with lightning or squat if in tent. If you smell gas, make sure to follow the appropriate process, avoid using oxygen.
There are three-stage responses: general adaptation syndrome — fight or flight. Acute stress reaction — can increase focus. Delayed stress reaction — after things have calmed down — how did you manage these feelings during the event. Cumulative stress — changes in appetite, constipation, a fast-paced lifestyle does not allow a person to rest. Posttraumatic stress disorder develops after a person has experienced a psychologically distressing event — depression, startle reactions, flashback phenomena, and dissociative episodes. CISM when personnel are assisted — defusing sessions, informally discuss, discourage drinking — debriefing sessions, online Zoom meetings. You must also realize that even though your personal emotions must be kept under control, these are normal feelings. You must deal with these feelings. The struggle to remain calm in the face of horrible circumstances contributes to the emotional stress of the job. Expected to bring some sense of order and stability to the terrifying chaos. Respect the patient’s religion and last wishes. Always be on the lookout for violence, coordinate with law enforcement, follow your state laws.
It is important to be aware of your cultural bias to avoid situations that place others at risk. Be aware of sexual harassment — unwelcome sexual advance. Intent of the harasser does not matter; what matters is the perception of the act and the effect the behavior has on someone else. Saying things that are not appreciated. EMS systems undergo periodic random tests for illegal drug use and have testing when it is believed that individuals are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
When caring for a dying patient or death you must follow a certain process. Avoid sad and grim comments, this is a bad, think he’ll lose the leg. Make sure to orient the patient. Be honest and decide how much information each patient is able to understand and accept. Allow for hope and transmit hope in your attitude in statements you are making. Let the love one see the death of the child in this helps with the grieving process. Silence is better than words often. The grieving process is first denial, then anger, hostility, followed by bargaining, then depression followed by finally acceptance. Be calm and efficient.
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