Exposure to dead bodies?

[PF_]

Found this article while reading through some old Code Reds

Critical Incident Stress Management
DON’T COLLECT BAD MEMORIES
Thanks to DO Human Resources Roy Thompson for this article
Should we expose our fire fighters to dead bodies?
Sounds like an unusual question considering our
job. During your career you will sometimes be
exposed to awful sights and sounds, this is
inevitable and unavoidable.
However at an incident one or more firefighters
may not have seen the body/sight and have no
active role to play around the body. A pump
operator would not have to see a charred body
inside a house.
Would there be any benefit in getting the pump
operator to view the body. There are two schools
of thought, one side says “Yes, toughen them up,
they will have to see it one day anyway” the other
says “Do not expose anyone to sights, sounds,
smells etc that they do not have to experience!”
There has been a lot of study done on this subject
and the weight of evidence shows that not only is
there absolutely no value in showing people
horrible images but it may well be quite harmful to
their long term health.
A firefighter may never be exposed to a charred
body in his/her career; there is no benefit in
implanting a horrific sight into their memory
unnecessarily. Experienced firefighters have
reported their experience of seeing awful sights as
something that sticks vividly with them for a very
long time and I have yet to meet someone who
enjoys carrying these images and the associated
sounds and smells around in their head.
Some new staff may believe they should see a
sight but after the experience few believe it added
any value to their skills as a firefighter.
Many psychologists believe that our defence
against Critical Incident Stress is like invisible
armour and that each exposure puts a chink in that
armour, making us gradually more susceptible to
injury rather than the toughening up image, which
is often portrayed.
Therefore it makes good sense to avoid adding
unnecessary chinks. That is not to say that you
should avoid doing your job; you will sometimes
be in situations where you are exposed to horrible
sights. However for your own long-term health,
you should reduce the exposure by covering up
bodies as soon as practicable and certainly not
exposing people unnecessarily.
Success as a firefighter comes from knowing that
you are doing the best job possible. The best way
to achieve this is with good knowledge and
practised skills.
The same applies to Critical Incident Stress,
having a good knowledge of how to protect
yourself, such as avoiding unnecessary exposure.
Skills in de-stressing, such as: debriefing the
incident as a crew, talking things over with your
partner, a Peer or COGNITION, physical exercise
or doing things you enjoy are the best tools for a
long and healthy career.

[medevac]

i think that this article raises  some good points, and it is my opinion that if your not directly involved for some reason then it is best not to veiw the deceased as it just gives you a mental picture to keep that quite frankly, not everyone (or anyone probably) wants to have.

personally ive only seen a couple of dead bodies... not related to cfs work... and honestly, the first one really kicks you in the pants... i havent seen it, but have heard of people leaving the service through seeing the likes of this.. most of the time unecessarily.

[firetruck]

unfortunately, i have a relative who left the CFA due to dead bodies. in his short time in the CFA, he saw 2 bodies, one that had perished in a domestic fire, and the second was one of his friends who died in an RCR. he left immediately. it shook him up for a while before he came to terms with it.

[CaptCom]

Unfortunately, there were probably too many firefighters exposed to viewing dead bodies during Black Tuesday..eg some had to hose them down because they were still alight..I can only imagine that these images haunt them all the time.

I've only had exposure to one fatal MVA and I made sure that my viewing was only limited...what I saw was bad enough as we all knew the person and it wasn't a pretty sight.

I agree with the theory of only exposing people to these images if they have to..it wouldn't toughen anyone up having to see this stuff...mind you SAPOL have a different mentality...they were forcing their probies to get right in at the MVA..

[Toast]

I exposed myself to a dead body once...

[rescue5271]

As  a member of a RCR brigade it is always hard not to get involved with a death and its hard where you are part of a team that try's to protect those younger members.Sooner or later they will be exposed to this and all we can do is provide help and support. Sure keep them away but remember its up to the person if they want to have a look or help.

[medevac]

I exposed myself to a dead body once...

theres laws against that ya know. 

[rescue5271]

My wife tells me that too.......

[Alan (Big Al)]

I exposed myself to a dead body once...

I'm really sorry but...

Was that meant to be written that way toast???

[Toast]

Just seeing who the sharp ones are. 

[Mike]

Just seeing who the sharp ones are. 

I was gonna let it pass
sick sick mind!

[firetruck]

I exposed myself to a dead body once...

mmm necrophaelia

[Pipster]

Simply exposing people to bodies (and not the way Toast's posting read either!) is not really a good way to "get people used to" bodies.

I had a fair bit of training about handling bodies (both psychological and actual manual handling of bodies) before I had actual exposure to them (that was in the mortuary, with about 15 bodies in it at the time) as well as watching a post mortem (fascinating stuff!) before being dumped with my first "in situ" body.

Since then, I have dealt with many bodies as part of my (non) CFS job...but I was prepared as  could be for dealing with the body, and also dealing with the relatives.......

Particularly if a brigade does not have to deal much with bodies, it is perhaps useful for members to know they can stand back, and no have to deal with a body if they aren't ready for it.

Last year, several SES members were involved in a search for a man who left a suicide note in his car in the Horsnells Gully Conservation Park - and then killed himself within the park, in a very well hidden spot.

SES members searched for a few days, before finally locating the body.  Police attended, and handled the removal of the body from where the man had killed himself - and it was very awkward to get the body out.  The bulk of the SES members moved a distance away, and turned in the opposite direction, to avoid seeing the body, while Police got the body into a body bag.  Once the bag was all zipped up, the SES members were happy to strap it into the stretcher and lug it some distance to a waiting coroners van.

Before anyone starts paying out the SES members, the bulk of them appeared ill equipped to deal with the body, until it was covered, and then it wasn't a problem for them.  I would hope that CFS brigades would do a similar thing - not make people feel bad because they felt they couldn't handle looking at a body.....

Pip

[PF_]

Geez, that musta been an odd experience, looking for a guy who commited suicide who left a note. 

What is your non CFS job if you dont mind me asking?

[rescue5271]

We all deal with death in a different way,I am lucky as in one of my work jobs I had to deal with death alot and in a very short time I had to deal with 9 people dying while on shift over a 6 week period. people should not be pushed into anything that they don't feel comfortable doing. We are human ourselfs and we should show some compassion to  the dead but also to people who try and in most cases take their own life.

[Pipster]

Geez, that musta been an odd experience, looking for a guy who commited suicide who left a note. 

At least half of the suicides I deal with leave notes of some sort.....


What is your non CFS job if you dont mind me asking?

Crime Scene Investigator

[firetruck]

(insert cheesy CSI joke here)

[Toast]

*tap tap tap* Enhance *tap tap tap* Enhance *tap tap tap* Enhance

Ok its not CSI, but its better.

[CaptCom]

I agree with Pipster...if you don't have to see it..don't look..mind you the curious part of you will challenge your physical part.

I think that the SES handled that situation the best way possible...otherwise they would have many members tangled over the whole image.

I remember searching for a friend who had disappeared and we suspected that he'd taken his life...the anxiety associated with looking under every tree and rock expecting to find his body was enough...thankfully, we didn't find him, someone else did 6mths later. He was not far from where we were looking.

As far as I'm aware, they don't give out any medals in CFS for looking at dead bodies..

[CyberCitizen]

*tap tap tap* Enhance *tap tap tap* Enhance *tap tap tap* Enhance

Ok its not CSI, but its better.

Super Troopers Great Movie.

But To Keep This On Topic.  We Start New Members On The 2nd Applicance If Possible, If We Are Short & They Are On Rescue We Give Them Traffic To Start With.  Then Over Time You Let Them Get Closer & Learn About The Scene & What They Will See.  Always Let Them Know That If It Ever Gets Too Much They Can Say So & Step Back From The Iccident If They Need To.  Its Not Worth It To Force Anyone Through That Type Of Thing.

[Toast]

Because one scene can prepare you for EVERYTHING...

[Robert-Robert34]

During my internship with the Wattle Range SES as their radio operator i was once required to go out to a RCR which happened on the Millicent-Mount Gambier Road just past KCA

However i was not exposed to the actual accident itself or the extraction of the casualty who died later on in hospital as my job was traffic control however i have responded to a car fire which was suspected to have a body of someone sleeping inside of the car but thankfully no one was in the car altogether

Mind you i only graduated from cadetship earlier that year and the reported car fire was just around the corner from our fire shed so it would have been a pretty ugly scene for the AMBOS and the volunteers of our brigade who pulled themselves out of bed really early to respond if someone had of been in the car

Im hoping that i do have to be exposed to any dead bodies involved in a RCR or House Fire 

[Scania_1]

So you are hoping to be exposed to dead bodies is that what you said??

[Robert-Robert34]

Whoops sorry about that i meant to say that i hope not be to exposed to dead bodies