By Suzz Sandalwood | The mental health challenges faced by first responders stem from a combination of structural, cultural, leadership, and systemic factors within their organizations.
Thank you Suzz for this well written, informed and compassionate article. You touch on so many excellent points but the one that stood out for me was the importance of training leaders to be "transparent about their own emotional experiences." Although I couldn't agree more, I believe it becomes difficult when first responder organizations hire leaders who have not spent substantial time in the field. I believe this is a critical first step in being able to even begin to build genuine compassionate and trauma-informed leaders. Without having experienced first-hand the sacrifice and toll that decades of responding to human suffering in its rawest forms can have on them and their peers, the development of our leaders can only go so far. This is not to say that training cannot develop a more compassionate appreciation for what the job extracts from those they lead, or that others in senior leadership roles with first responder experience can't be assigned this role, but it's been my experience that those who best understand the importance of the message you are trying to convey, are the ones who have had years of experiencing it front and centre. Thank you so much for what you are doing.
Thank you Suzz for this well written, informed and compassionate article. You touch on so many excellent points but the one that stood out for me was the importance of training leaders to be "transparent about their own emotional experiences." Although I couldn't agree more, I believe it becomes difficult when first responder organizations hire leaders who have not spent substantial time in the field. I believe this is a critical first step in being able to even begin to build genuine compassionate and trauma-informed leaders. Without having experienced first-hand the sacrifice and toll that decades of responding to human suffering in its rawest forms can have on them and their peers, the development of our leaders can only go so far. This is not to say that training cannot develop a more compassionate appreciation for what the job extracts from those they lead, or that others in senior leadership roles with first responder experience can't be assigned this role, but it's been my experience that those who best understand the importance of the message you are trying to convey, are the ones who have had years of experiencing it front and centre. Thank you so much for what you are doing.