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Self-Care Tips for Emergency and Disaster Response Workers

Normal Reactions to a Disaster Event

Signs That You May Need Stress Management Assistance

Ways to Help Manage Your Stress

Normal Reactions to a Disaster Event

  • No one who responds to a mass casualty event is untouched by it
  • Profound sadness, grief, and anger are normal reactions to an abnormal event
  • You may not want to leave the scene until the work is finished
  • You will likely try to override stress and fatigue with dedication and commitment
  • You may deny the need for rest and recovery time

Signs That You May Need Stress Management Assistance

  • Difficulty communicating thoughts
  • Difficulty remembering instructions
  • Difficulty maintaining balance
  • Uncharacteristically argumentative
  • Difficulty making decisions
  • Limited attention span
  • Unnecessary risk-taking
  • Tremors/headaches/nausea
  • Tunnel vision/muffled hearing
  • Colds or flu-like symptoms.
  • Disorientation or confusion
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Loss of objectivity
  • Easily frustrated
  • Unable to engage in problem-solving
  • Unable to let down when off duty
  • Refusal to follow orders
  • Refusal to leave the scene
  • Increased use of drugs/alcohol
  • Unusual clumsiness

Ways to Help Manage Your Stress

  • Limit on-duty work hours to no more than 12 hours per day
  • Make work rotations from high stress to lower stress functions
  • Make work rotations from the scene to routine assignments, as practicable
  • Use counseling assistance programs available through your agency
  • Drink plenty of water and eat healthy snacks like fresh fruit and whole grain breads and other energy foods at the scene
  • Take frequent, brief breaks from the scene as practicable.
  • Talk about your emotions to process have seen and done
  • Stay in touch with your family and friends
  • Participate in memorials, rituals, and use of symbols as a way to express feelings
  • Pair up with a responder so that you may monitor one another's stress

KEN-01-0098
04/03

Please note that this online publication has been abridged from the printed version.

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