How the community can help prevent PTSD among police, firefighters, and emergency medical services.
Trauma has an enormous physical and/or emotional impact on victims, but it is important to remember the impact it has on first responders such as the police and emergency medical services as well.
Ayelet Shmuel of Zone Resilience, an Israel-based mental health practice specializing in trauma therapy, works with organizations around the world on trauma training, including Jewish organizations in Metro Detroit.
Ayelet Shmuel
The reason is that society often “misses” mental health care for first responders, explains Shmuel, 50, of Ashkelon, Israel. Living in a war zone that often sees rockets, Shmuel learned firsthand the impact supporting first responders can have.
However, the need to care for the mental health of first responders transcends Israeli tensions.
As the world grapples with a rise in mass shootings, with 202 in the US alone in 2023, including the Michigan State University shooting that left three students dead, first responders — who are directly on the front lines — are bearing the impact. Tremendously emotional.
That’s why Michigan Hatzalah, a Jewish volunteer service that provides rapid response to medical emergencies, enlisted Shmuel’s help last fall to train in how to identify and prevent post-traumatic stress disorder among first responders, a very real and often invisible side effect of the job.
A growing crisis
Recent studies show that about 10% of first responders report post-traumatic stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder, which is a mental health condition triggered by witnessing a traumatic event. Other data He puts this number much higher – up to 35%, depending on the job.
Recent studies show that about 10% of first responders report post-traumatic stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder, which is a mental health condition triggered by witnessing a traumatic event. Other data puts this number much higher – up to 35%, depending on the job.
While PTSD and its symptoms can look different from person to person, first responders can experience emotional numbing and avoidance, which can affect interpersonal relationships. It can also include depression, anxiety, and drug use or abuse.
Not everyone will go on to develop PTSD, but Shmuel says being aware of the signs and knowing how to prevent them from happening, can be an effective way to lower the rising numbers of PTSD sufferers in an increasingly violent world.
In Michigan Hatsala’s latest program, for example, Shmuel worked with first responders to teach practical tools for protecting and caring for their mental health, while caring for victims at the same time.
“People in these jobs usually have a good ability to go from zero to 100 and go into work mode and crunch mode,” Shmuel says. “Usually these are people in whom you would not see any distress, but that does not mean that these situations do not affect them.”
Often, first responders may seem to handle the situation well, Shmuel explains, but often the effect is felt (and seen) when they finish their shift or go home for the day.
“You start to see some of the symptoms; you start to see the effect,” she says. “You need to know what to look for and you need to know what to do with these symptoms.”
Identify signs of post-traumatic stress disorder
The first step to identifying and preventing PTSD, says Shmuel, is to increase awareness in your body, inside and out. “If there is such a thing as first aid, there is such a thing as mental first aid,” Shmuel says. “It’s body and soul.”
Secondly, it is important for the community to care about the individuals who take care of the community itself, especially when it comes to volunteer organizations like Hatzalah who are everyday members of the community.
“Recognizing acute stress and how it manifests,” Shmuel says, is key to preventing that stress from turning into a diagnosis like PTSD.
Once people become aware of the symptoms of PTSD and acute stress in general, such as anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and avoidance of situations that trigger certain memories, they can be quicker to act and react when a loved one or community member is in need.
“I am a firm believer in the need for everyone in society to have these tools,” says Shmuel. “I think parents, volunteers, teachers and leaders should know that.”
Shmuel continues to work with the Detroit leadership to provide trauma training to the Jewish community and beyond.
Shmuel adds, “The earlier you conduct a mental health intervention, the better the chances of this [or a first responder] He won’t get PTSD.”
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