Firefighter Research Paper

Submitted By dcarter27
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Pages: 4
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Firefighting and EMS are ranked among one of the most stressful and demanding jobs in America. When broken down into individual categories it is ranked the second most stressful job and demanding work environment in the United States, right behind the President. But what is stress? There is no widely accepted definition of stress but it could be described as the demand made on an organization to adapt, cope or adjust. As a firefighter there are many situations, every day the cause stress and demand. Finding out and understanding how to manage and cope with that stress is key to staying healthy and happy. In the selected article, it discusses the various types of stress and the causes in the work environment of a firefighter. As a firefighter there are many types of stress you have to endure, both physiological and psychological. The types of physiological stress firefighters deal with are prolonged exertion, sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures, pain and acute changes in the work environment. These are all things a firefighter may experience every day. All of these things can add up and create more and more stress. The stress created at work doesn’t always stay at work. Firefighters often say that it is hard to leave the stress from work at or to leave the stress from home at home. All of the challenges of being a firefighter at work and then a parent, spouse, or friend at home can become overwhelming. This building stress can manifest within a firefighter and possibly have negative effects on your health, or possibly become Post Traumatic Stress disorder or PTSD. This can create many problems at work such of making things, that wouldn’t normally be stressful, become stressful. Large amounts of stress if not dealt with in the correct manor can also have terrible effects on your health and can even create auto immune deficiency diseases. The article also touched on how stress affects the psychological process of the brain. It is well known that no matter what with certain occupations, it is inevitable that you will be exposed to various levels of stress. It is made clear that everyone experiences and deals with stress in different ways. Because of this normal thought processing patterns can change as a result of stress. It can also change your physiological being, such as your vitals or your immune system. Stress can change someone so much that communication or behaviors of one can seem abnormal or uncharacteristic of the person being affected. In a survey conducted for firefighters 54% of all firefighters believed that they have responded inappropriately to an event as a result of their response to a stressful situation or environment. The survey shows that while under stress people can have impaired cognition which can put themselves or others in danger. If a firefighter is properly prepared for and understands how to handle stress, both psychological and physiological it can help keep them healthy and protect them from the harmful effects of stress. Some ways recommended to help prepare firefighters preform under stress are to maintain and
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