Mental health of first responders....

I know everyone in some capacity is struggling with this lockdown... and there are two very divided sides but I just wanted to throw this out there that health care workers and first responders are suffering in mental health too...
Walking in daily to multiple patients intubated...
FaceTiming families so they can say goodbye since they can’t come into hospitals....
Hours of wearing multiple layers of PPE at a time....
Wondering if you will have enough PPE to treat patients...
Walking into work not knowing how many people will have a great day, be discharged or how many will die on you...
Walking into work knowing you can get the virus or bring it home to your family...

There’s a lot of research being done that many first responders/ health care workers will have long term PTSD...
So as we reopen just remember that there are people still working in the hospitals and protecting the public that have to deal with this daily as we will see some spikes...
Stay safe!

Message edited 5/16/2020 5:20:48 AM.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

I think about this all the ti e I worry for all hospital employees

Re: Mental health of first responders....

It's not a hollow term. You are true heroes. When I see a "side " protesting, disbelieving, or disrespecting you, it makes me want to cry.

You are not forgotten by the majority. You are revered.

Mental health of first responders....

I’ve talked to some friends who are nurses and say it was devastating. I totally understand there will be PTSD and why those in the medical field are more nervous to reopen.

Hoping by opening slowly we will be able to prevent that from happening again - nobody wants that.

Message edited 5/16/2020 8:09:12 AM.

Mental health of first responders....

I have a job that’s considered sort of a first responder. The nature of my job definitely has caused me som PTSD. That being said, it’s nowhere near what health care workers have experienced during this pandemic. I don’t envy them at all. My heart goes out to each and every one of them and I pray they find a way to get through this and somehow make peace with it and that it doesn’t haunt them for years to come..

Re: Mental health of first responders....

Mental health of first responders....

My cousin was in NYC for three weeks to help out (she is a PA originally from here but lives in another state) and has had a lot of trouble sleeping once she got back, and that’s only so far. She specifically worked with patients that had been on ventilators for weeks.

I also wonder about the mental state of funeral directors/morticians. I know they deal with death for a living, but one of our family members had to delay burying their loved one because the cemetery was around 80 burials behind. That’s incredibly heavy to deal with.

Message edited 5/16/2020 3:34:02 PM.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

There already was one staff member suicide that I know of from the hospital that my husband works for (it was in the news.)
It is very scary & sad.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

Posted by tourist

There already was one staff member suicide that I know of from the hospital that my husband works for (it was in the news.)
It is very scary & sad.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

This is a huge issue. The New York Times just ran a piece on it. First responders are silently enduring unimaginable trauma and personal risk to themselves and their families as they work to comfort and save others. Then, some inexplicably abuse and defame them.

While mental health care needs to be more accessible to all, our first resonders deserve much more than most of them get in the way of compensation, support, and respect.

OP- hoping that you have all of the support that you need right now. Your kids surely see that their mom is a hero!

Re: Mental health of first responders....

Yes, definitely.

Some of these first responders have not seen their families in the last few months. I have heard of some health care workers who now live in their own basements without seeing their spouse and children when they arrive from work. Some have moved into hotels offering free rooms. I have heard of spouses of healthcare workers who moved in with their own parents in order to avoid any contact with their husband/wife during this time.

So after these health care workers spend 12+ hours at a time taking care of those dying with covid-19, watching them die alone, they come home to loneliness.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

You can’t start to experience PTSD until the traumatizing event is over and this is very very far from over for first responders. Sadly, will most certainty be a rash of suicides come fall by providers. Some employers are doing heavy psychiatric surveillance but it’s not enough. I think one of the hardest things to interpret is “it’s not as bad as they say it is” remarks, because the fact is that for providers the virus and it’s effects are way worse than media presents to the public.

Re: Mental health of first responders....

Posted by tourist

There already was one staff member suicide that I know of from the hospital that my husband works for (it was in the news.)
It is very scary & sad.