Stress: a constraining force or influence: as a physical, chemical or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.
When we are faced with an acute threat, nature designed our bodies to react with the ‘fight or flight’ response. This physical reaction is commonly called the ‘flight or fight’ syndrome. It is initiated by a discharge of corticotripin-releasig hormones by the hypothalamus. That in turn stimulates the pituitary gland & adrenal glands to discharge adrenalin and noradrenalin. The bottom line? You’re your breathing increases, your heart speeds up, non-critical systems are inhibited, you shake, and you get tunnel vision.
In other words, you get ready to either run away fast or kick the *#@ out of someone. That is a stress response. After the crisis is over, you feel exhausted. Men and women handle emergent situations differently – men are more aggressive while women are more likely to negotiate or leave. That’s not to say a woman won’t do a smack down on a person threatening her family.
Is stress good or bad? It depends on the reason one is feeling stressed. An occasional stressful incident is no problem, but constant stress is not good. It can wear down the body and lead to chronic illness. Working in Public Safety, we are exposed to negativity and trauma. The stress of our jobs leads t stress on a daily basis.
Field personnel face the worst of society every shift. Law enforcement can attempt to arrest the ‘bad guys’, fire fighters can put out the fires, and ems personnel can try to save the patients. Each of these branches of Public Safety may get stressed over the calls. In bad incidents, they may even have tie between runs to take a break.
Public Safety Telecommunicators are different in that there may be no time between one incident and the next. In large communications centers, a radio dispatcher may be pulled from the channel to have a few moments to take a breath, but he or she will be back in the trenches again. In smaller agencies, or a single dispatch department, one has to keep working. Many times, there is no resolution to a call.
Dispatchers are expected to be tough. We’re cool and collected over the radio or phones. If we lose it, then everyone else does.
Debriefings, crisis interventions, and counselors are more common now. Many agencies offer confidential stress counseling for employees. It behooves Dispatch Supervisors to have these numbers posted in the dispatch bulletin board in plain sight for the telecommunicators. After a major incident, officer down, or disaster, the stress debriefing should be offered.
What are signs of stress in dispatchers? According to Allen R. Kates, in his book “CopShock” when one is stressed, the symptoms to look for are:
Emotional Signs: Denial, dear, depression, grief, anxiety; feeling hopeless, helpless, overwhelmed or numb; anger, irritability, aggression, uncertainty; dwelling on details of the event; suicidal thoughts, loss of belief in a higher being.
Physical Signs: chest pain, trouble breathing, high blood pressure; stomach pain, indigestion, headaches; dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, chills, diarrhea; muscle aches, trembling, rapid heart rate,; sleep disturbance, dry mouth, fatigue.
Behavioral Signs: change in speech patterns; angry outburst, arguments, acts of violence; withdrawal, suspicion, excessive silence; increase in consuming alcohol, tobacco, drugs, food; disruption in eating habits; gambling, buying sprees, promiscuity; changes in work habits and interaction with others; unexplained or prolonged crying spells.
What can you, the dispatcher do to relieve stress?
First, don’t let it build up in the first place. During your training, communicate with your trainer. If you have a bad shift, or just a call that affected you, don’t stuff your feelings deep down. Once you are on your own, find a sympathetic co-worker. Eat healthy at work. Stay away from junk as much as possible. Make a routine and try to stick to it. Make it a habit to leave work at work, especially if you wear uniforms. Exercise, even if it as simple as a daily walk is good. Take your vacation time!
One problem I had when I first started in the police department was taking my breaks. Where was I to go at night? So I didn’t leave dispatch. Later on when I was ‘bumped’ off my shift to swings (as a junior supervisor) I shrugged off breaks, or took them in the supervisor’s office while I did my paperwork.
That was wrong. I can look back now and probably highlight three quarters of the symptoms listed. I was a serious burnout. Then again, so was half of our dispatch staff. The rest was too new to recognize what was going on. It was around that time when our dispatch center had ten (almost half of our allowed staffing) hires in various stages of training.
There were two shifts that stood out: a swing shift in which a suspect short at and was subsequently killed by one of our officers during the return fire. We (dispatch) were working short-handed. I was on the radio that night, directing the shift between radio traffic. That same night, another agency had an officer killed. The other incident also occurred on a swing shift, again the staffing was minimal. I had to handle a barricaded suspect on the primary channel and a demonstration on the secondary. Both incidents stuck with me for a long time.
I tried to help our new hires with stress. Told them all I have said here. I even told the non-smokers to take equal breaks to the smokers, suggesting they get a bottle of the bubbles with the wand. I had a couple of them standing in doorways, blowing luminescent bubbles, taking deep, slow breaths in and exhaling slowly to get ‘bigger balloons’. It worked for them.
I ended up leaving. After playing pharmacy technician for a couple years, I returned to dispatching. I just couldn’t stay away. My blue baby nightmares haven’t returned, nor has the one of me standing in a room by myself with every phone ringing & all radios calling for help. I’m taking that as a good sign. I’m not taking work home, although I am working on a book. I’m still involved in the profession.
As always, stay safe out there!
T.P McAtamney’s site. He offers classes, a free downloadable book and a blog on dispatcher stress. There is also links to other sites.
http://headsets911.com/
911 Cares – a site for and about Dispatchers. This site is a treasure chest of information. Not only does 911 Cares support dispatchers in times of need (you can donate to a fund that supports this), but they offer books, gifts, t-shirt, etc., links, job information and so much more.
http://www.911cares.com/
The National Center on Post Traumatic Stress
More reading:
CopShock
By Kates, Allen
2008, Holbrook Street Press, Tucson
ISBN #978-0-9668501-2-3
Under the Headset: Surviving Dispatcher Stress
By Behr, Richard
2000 Staggs Publishing
ISBN #978-0-9661970-0-44