Professional Development | Presentations
One GREAT Enemy: Confronting Suicide in EMS Providers
Paramedics & EMTs are not superhuman! The combination of working 24- or 12-hour shifts, responding to personally disturbing incidents & having to make life-or-death decisions, comes at a high price relationally, physically & psychologically for EMS providers. For some EMS providers, the ultimate psychological price is suicide. Suicide is a disturbing trend that has emerged among EMS professionals. During this presentation, we will evaluate suicide case studies in EMS, discuss current rates of suicide for EMS professionals, examine the warning signs of suicide, and share practical resources to prevent suicide in EMS professionals.
When “Suck it Up” Doesn’t Work
Steeped in the tradition of emergency services is the mindset when an emergency call disturbs you, the best way to cope with that call is to "suck it up." This presentation focuses on the dangers of using a "suck it up" mindset on personally disturbing incidents, identifying the hazards associated with detrimental coping methods, & offering optimal coping strategies that develop resilience to mitigate the risks associated with exposure to personally disturbing incidents.
Are you Serving Leftovers? Valuing our Significant Relationships
At the end of a 24- or 12-hour shift, emergency services professionals often come home too tired, too drained, or too preoccupied, to love the people to whom they have made the deepest promises. Those who need the emergency responder's love the most, those to whom emergency services providers are most committed, end up getting “the leftovers.” This presentation will discuss the dangers associated when emergency services professionals neglect their significant relationships, distinguish the crucial skills for valuing relationships and identify strategies for enhancing their significant relationships.
Are you bulletproof? Cultivating Resilience in Emergency Services
Emergency services professionals are exposed to significant levels of stress, and the prevalence of stress-related issues inclusive of burnout, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, substance abuse & suicide are serious issues facing emergency services professionals. Although emergency services professionals cannot avoid adversity and stress, they can learn to be resilient by becoming aware of resilient interventions that will cultivate their ability to overcome, steer through adversity, to bounce back from the stress associated with emergency services & promote optimal psychological, relational, & vocational well-being.
Empathy in EMS Patient Care
Empathy is considered fundamental to successful patient engagement and healthcare outcomes. An empathic EMS provider can affect a patient’s levels of anxiety and stress, patient satisfaction and adherence, and patient enablement. Within a health team, the empathic treatment enhances information exchange between health team members, diagnosis, and treatment outcomes. Specifically, there is a significant correlation between the empathic EMS provider and patient responsiveness to treatment. In this course, we will examine the role of empathy in an EMS patient/family encounter, describe the importance of emotional attunement, & discuss how to process negotiation & confrontation with an EMS patient/family encounter.
Dying with Dignity: Prehospital Care in the Final Hours of Life
Terminal illness, expected and sudden death pose unique challenges to EMS providers. Often EMS professionals are summoned for assistance during the final hours of life. Prehospital care provided during those final hours can have profound effects on the patient, family, and prehospital providers. By understanding the pathophysiologic changes of the dying process, determining effective strategies for prehospital grief care, and offering an appropriate death notification, EMS providers can offer the patient and family professional, competent, compassionate prehospital care during the last hours of living.
To schedule a presentation, contact Dr. Holland at 919.971.3064
Click on the links below to view handouts from GuardianONE presentations