STRESS RELIEF for Firefighters & Paramedics from Chaplain Skip

"...and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

The following are excerpts from the University of New Mexico's job description for Paramedic:

SUMMARY:
Under general supervision, provides basic to advanced emergency rescue and paramedical care to the ill and injured. Guides and supports EMT Intermediate and/or EMT Basic techs and/or students in the application of appropriate EMS techniques, as required. Performs direct illness/injury assessment and management, preparation for transport, transfer of information, and patient care.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Attends emergency medical requests as they arise, and renders advanced paramedical assistance to seriously ill or injured patients as required. Performs initial assessment and management of illness or injury to emergency patients in accordance with specified protocol and procedure. Prepares or assists in the preparation of patients for transport, ensuring compliance with emergency medical transport regulations, protocol, and procedure. Provides direct paramedical and comprehensive patient care as required in each individual case. Leads, guides, and/or assists in the training of lower level techs and/or students, as specifically assigned. Follows established departmental policies, procedures, and objectives, continuous quality improvement objectives, and safety, environmental, and/or infection control standards. Completes and transfers patient care information and records as per established procedures.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL EFFORT:
Work involves considerable exposure to unusual elements, such as extreme temperatures, dirt, dust, fumes, smoke, unpleasant odors, and/or loud noises. Extensive physical activity. Requires strenuous physical work; heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling required of objects over 50 pounds. Work environment involves exposure to potentially dangerous materials and situations that require following extensive safety precautions and may include the use of protective equipment.
Will work with blood or blood-borne pathogens and will require OSHA training.

Well, those of us who are serving on our REAL CHIEF's shift also have been given a job description by CHRIST. We are to go out and preach and heal the sick. Those were the Words HE used to his twelve disciples. And, I believe they are applicable to us, as believers.

Well, in a sense, you really are. You are called, as a believer to go and to tell others the Good News. Preaching, in this case, may not mean to get up in a pulpit. No, it may mean that by living a CHRISTIAN life at home and at work, you become a preacher to others by the way you live your life.

And, as far as the "heal the sick" part, you are saying, "Hey, I'm not a doctor." True, but whether you are a firefighter, a dispatcher, an EMT or a Paramedic, you play a role in healing people. Now, I know it doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while, CPR works. This is a great example of someone being healed physically. We are also to help heal the "sickness of sin" by turning others to our REAL CHIEF, Who can heal them spiritually.

So, as believers, we need to study and apply our job descriptions as we go forth to serve...

Jeff Foxworthy comes up with some good ones about "rednecks," doesn't he? You know... "If you mow your yard and find more than two cars.... you might be a redneck!" Funny stuff. He also has a "Redneck Dictionary" with some hilarious words.

So, I made up a new word... "dijayear." Now, let me use it in a sentence for you - 'Dijayear about ole' so-and-so who's about to get fired?' That's the famous word that a gossip uses to bait his hook with.

I've talked about this before. And, gossip is raising its' ugly head again. I've noticed something about gossip... the amount of gossip around the station is directly proportionate to the volume of calls. As calls decrease, gossip increases.

Gossip is hurtful. Have you ever been the object of gossip? I bet you have. Doesn't feel good does it? Or, how about this - have you ever been one to pass gossip? I am not talking about starting gossip - isn't it funny that you can never find the person that started the rumor? "ME? I didn't say that." I am talking about when you hear "dijayear about" are you someone who then goes to someone else and says the new 'd' word?

Here is a suggestion - be the one to break the chain! By that, I mean be the person that says, "No, and I don't want to hear about it." Or, the gossiper blurts out a "dijayear," don't ever repeat it. You see, the more it is repeated, the more twisted it gets. Have you ever played the little game where a group gets in a circle and you whisper a phrase to someone? By the time you get around to the last person in the circle, the phrase is absolutely nothing like what it was when it was started.

Our verse for the week says it well, don't you think? If you keep adding wood, the fire keeps burning.... keep passing the gossip and the flames of dissension and pain grow.

Be the one who pulls the wood out of the fire. Remember that we are the ones who are supposed to put the fires out while serving...

" But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man `unclean.' "

There are so many times that I have wished (after the fact, of course) I had kept my big mouth shut. You know the old saying, open mouth, insert foot.

Our REAL CHIEF is talking about this in our verse this week. JESUS was being confronted by some folks who were questioning HIM as to why HIS disciples didn't wash their hands. HE was trying to make the point with them that it isn't what goes into the mouth that makes a man 'unclean,' but what comes out of the mouth.

Sit and think back... I bet you, too, have had a time or two that you wish you could take something back that you said.

Usually, at least in my case, the something that was said was said in anger or, I am ashamed to admit, in pride - like putting someone else down, instead of building them up.

This is something I have really been praying about lately. I have been asking my REAL CHIEF to help me hold my tongue... to help me think before I speak.

I know I can't do it on my own. And, I know WHO can help me get rid of this horrible habit.

How about you? Are you dealing with "loose lips syndrome?" How about if we start a "Blabbermouths Anonymous" chapter? "Hi, my name is Skip and I am a blabbermouth!" I have admitted to you, to me and, most importantly, to GOD. I need HIM to help me. I need you to pray with me. And, if you are one of the people I have hurt along the way, I ask you to forgive me. My foot tastes horrible.

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Have you ever been in this situation? Your crew is called out a three in the morning. It is cold. It is dark. You are responding the report of a person with medical problems. As you approach the dispatched address, everything appears normal. You see a porch light on and two people standing over someone laying on the ground. As you walk down the sidewalk, it appears that your patient is seizuring. You ask what is happening, but the witnesses speak no English and your marginal Spanish elicits the response, "No se" (I don't know). You load the patient and guess what? He isn't seizuring, he is twitching around from the PCP overdose he has taken and the next thing you know, he us up off the stretcher and the fight is on!

You grab for a microphone and call for law enforcement assistance for a combative patient. As you huff and puff and work to get the person restrained without you or your partner getting hurt, you are waiting to hear the sirens of squad cars coming to your aid. And you wait. And wait. And wait.

Do you know what I am talking about? We can't stand it when we have to wait. Have you ever been first on the scene of something and called for EMS or fire or police? Didn't it seem like forever?

There have been times when I see someone doing wrong at work. Something really wrong. And, I sit and wonder why GOD would allow this person to "get away with" whatever.

But, you know something? We have to learn patience. We have to learn not to take things into our hands ("be still..."). We have to know that HE is in control.

When we learn patience, we will be able to see, very clearly, our REAL CHIEF in action. We will see HIM work in situations. However, we must also learn that it is in HIS timing, and not ours.

Once we have grabbed the concept of "sitting still," we will be able to place more trust in the fact that the CREATOR of the universe has things well in hand...

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

We have all, by now, seen the horrific pictures from Sri Lanka and India and Thailand. We have heard the staggering numbers of fatalities... well over one hundred thousand people.

It all started with an under-sea earthquake... a fault line shifts and a giant wave moves out at over three hundred miles per hour. In a matter of minutes, entire islands are moved, destroyed or created. I heard of one coastal town that it is estimated that one half of the population was killed.

This, my friends, was a tragedy of such magnitude, that it leaves one wondering how those countries affected will ever recover.

I do know, though, where to find comfort - in our REAL CHIEF! You see, JESUS, Himself, reminds us that there will be trouble in this world. But peace comes in knowing this - HE has overcome the world.

Now that this huge Tsunami of has made landfall, I think scientists the world over, in a typical knee-jerk reaction, will begin trying to figure out what happened and how to predict and prepare for future events. "They" will try to prevent destruction that cannot be prevented.... this world will have trouble, remember?

We all need to pray for those peoples affected by the earthquake by praying that a Tsunami of Peace rushes over them. Pray that the survivors react like the peoples mentioned in the Book of Revelation react - "At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." (Revelation 11:13).

Pray also for the relief workers that will be helping those societies by showing them the love and peace of our REAL CHIEF as they serve...

It is my prayer that the verses we discuss help each of you as it has helped me deal with the amount of stress we are all faced to deal with.

If you are not yet saved, I have Good News for you. Jesus loves you very much and His Holy Spirit is drawing you to Him. To learn more, click here.

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The folks at the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation can also help if you have been involved in a Critical Incident.

If you are in the Greater Houston, Texas area, BLUEBONNET CISM team will respond at your department's request.

Chaplain Skip writes STRESS RELIEF every week, usually on Sunday afternoon. STRESS RELIEF was distributed, via email by request, to 575 readers this week. The article also appears on several other websites with Chaplain Skip's approval.