Coping with a accident scene?

Hi Axle,

Was the 1st to arrive at a fatality in Oct and it slowed me up, Both parents and a little boy dead. They put it down to fatigue but it put the wind up me and I drove that little bit more carefully.

The ambo's cops etc dont get near the pay they should for the work they have to perform, well in my eyes anyway. I'd want double or triple to constantly do what they do.

Cheers Wilko

Axle,
many years ago I was at at accident with some pretty gruesome scenes.

I asked one of the ambos how he coped with it and his answer came back.

I don't. If it is a bad one they don't tell me, so when I turn up I do my job and then go away and be sick and can't sleep.

I kept in touch with this person and he gave the job away.

RA.

Different people cope in different ways.
Some people can talk/write about it.
Emergency services debrief after attending incidents
Counselling services are available for emergency and rescue crew for as long as they need them and when they need them after an incident.
Some of us, including myself after working in maritime search and rescue, RFS and police, have a tendency to appear to deal with it well but have actually repressed the feelings connected with the incident and these can come back to the surface at any time in the future, even years later.

The important thing to remember after attending or seeing an incident is to seek help as soon as you feel uncomfortable about your thoughts and feelings. And the best help is talking to someone. If you don't have someone close or don't feel comfortable talking to someone you know you can always call a mental health hotline like Lifeline Australia 24/7 on 13 11 14. Don't try locking it away or burying it, then it could become an illness if not prevented or managed.

Safe travels and remember to take care of your both your body and mind.

Some people have a built in coping mechanism, some don't. It sounds a bit callous but if you can't look at it like an essential service, that you are being paid for or volunteering to do the best you can to help/rescue, even distance yourself you will not last long as an ambo or Fire and Rescue.
Personally the greatest dread is that one day it could be someone you know and worse a child.
On the positive side every time you get a patient to medical help successfully a little bit of the bad stuff gets cancelled out.

Cheers
Pop

One of the most annoying things when attending a fatal collision are the drivers stopping or slowing down to look. Causes huge traffic problems at a time when Police are trying to investigate and keep traffic safely flowing. And please don’t stop to complain about the hold up because you are in a hurry! And if the Police are directing you along a dirt road to get around the incident where it looks like a war zone and people are dead, don’t stop and complain because you have just washed your car. True story. Have heaps but you would not believe them. Like, imagine you have just worked at a scene where the driver of a motor bike has slammed into a light truck, killed himself and his pillion, his fiancée and seriously injured the driver of the truck. Motor bike was travelling over 180 k’s per hour at the time and hit the truck as the truck was turning into his driveway. You have to then go and tell both parents that their son/daughter are dead. You and your partner are the only crew working, so no time for debrief etc, back to the street and you come across a motor bike speeding. You stop the bike and driver abuses you, why don’t go catch real criminals, stop picking on us bike riders, are you after a promotion, need to fill your quota etc.
Sorry, I will say no more.....

Just drive safely and do not be in a hurry and take your breaks..... Kevin