When you see a fire truck, police car or ambulance going down the road with lights flashing and siren blaring, did you ever give any thought to the men and women who staff these units? What happens to them after the call is complete; do they just ready their equipment for the next call, or are there other concerns?
Politicians seeking election always say they “support public safety,” but how do we as a community best support our public safety professionals?
The first responders to our emergencies consist of public safety dispatchers, firefighters, emergency medical response, police officers, and sheriff deputies. Others, such as emergency room medical staff, probation officers, and adult and child protective services investigators, could also be included.
These folks see firsthand the devastation caused by drug use, mental health issues, homelessness, and hopelessness. One public safety official observed that ongoing critical incidents are like paper cuts to the wrist. Each death or suicide investigation, fatal or maiming traffic collision, infant death, homicide, or burn victim make up these paper cuts.
If you ask a public safety professional how they are doing they will often say: “I am just doing my job” or on deeper inquiry they may simply say, “I am fine.” But as public safety managers will tell you, “After time these paper cuts cause a deep bleeding and one day, you can wake up and your hand is severed from your arm, and you are bleeding out.”
In his book “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk M.D., we learn of the depth of trauma and its mental, emotional, and physical responses.
Van der Kolk says: “Psychologists usually try to help people use insight and understanding to manage their behavior. However, neuroscience research shows that very few psychological problems are the result of defects in understanding; most originate in pressures from deeper regions in the brain that drive our perception and attention.”
He continues, “When the alarm bell of the emotional brain keeps signaling that you are in danger, no amount of insight will silence it.”
Elsewhere in his book, Van der Kolk writes: “We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.
“Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way the mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.”
In this deep analysis we find that the public safety manager’s analogy of “paper cuts” was more precise and accurate than he thought. But how can the public support our public safety professionals who must deal with physical and emotional trauma during their responses and their own suppressed emotions on an ongoing basis?
The organizations (city, county, state, and private services) provide clinical support, peer support, chaplain programs and more to aid their employees. Public safety managers care deeply about their staff and offer professional help if requested.
But what can we citizens do to support them?
First, we must acknowledge the fact that the cumulative total of years of responding to our calls for help can create imprints in the mind that are difficult to erase. We can periodically just say “thank you” when we encounter these folks in our daily travels; write notes of care; post positive observations on social media; or counter a statement you know is false when someone is critical of their actions.
We can be the eyes and ears and report crime in our area, or become great witnesses of what we saw or recorded on our phones or security cameras.
We can speak and write to our elected officials offering our support for the public safety staff, and try to convince them of the need for retention incentives, and suggest they visit the fire house, police station or medical care facility to express their ongoing concern for the unseen cost of providing public safety services.
Lastly, and probably of greater value, is when you see a first responder you can simply say: “Thanks for all you do for my family, friends and neighbors. I am grateful for you.”
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry. He has been following Lompoc politics since 1992, and after serving for 23 years appointed to various Lompoc commissions, retired from public service. The opinions expressed are his own.
