PsychSense: Sensible Psychological Solutions

I just finished presenting four talks for the Pensylvania State Emergency Medical Services (EMS) conference in Harrisburg.

I spoke about

• Dealing with Emotions During Emergencies
• Dealing with the Angry Person and Preventing Escalation
• Dealing with the Confused Person
• Managing the Hysterical Patient.

Watch my site for postings on some of these topics.

 I want to share some of this great experience. First of all the people. All those who attended my workshops seemed truly interested in learning how to help their patients deal with the emotional stress of emergencies.  They were open to new ideas and had lots of experience and ideas themselves about what worked to calm people down.

We all agreed that although the major focus of a medical emergency  is to save lives and prevent worsening of trauma or illness this may not be possible unless the patient’s emotions are dealt with.  Fear and other emotions must  at least acknowledged. Communicating an understanding of a person’s feelings can go a long way to calming them.

 I spoke alot about empathy and we worked hard to practice this concept and be able to figure out how to use it in common situations.  If you haven’t read my blog on empathy  please do. It remains one of the most powerful communication techniques for dealing with distressed, frightened, and angry people.

The EMS providers I met seem to have a great sense of humor. I have come to appreciate how important this is to surviving in such a high intensity emotional line of work. The frustrations of the job are many,  misuse of services, lack of support, low pay, lack of repect and recognition for the life saving work they do. The rewards can be great.

Remember these are the first people there to help you when you need it most. We need to educate ourselves about the profession and the great job these folks do under pretty tough circumstances. My appreciation and respect to all of you.