Oh, they do offer us conseling. All we have to do is call dispatch and request the incident stress debriefing team. But in 13 years of working in EMS, I have known very few to take advantage of it... I've been involved in incidents that were so bad that a supervisor has called them in and ordered us to talk to them. But it's really pretty rare for us to request them on our own. At least not when anyone you work with would find out about it...

Generally we tend to deal with things on our own. We'll hang out talking amongst ourselves outside the ER after a bad call. Usually the supervisors understand what's going on and give us a little extra time to clear up.

The Blue Canaries and Hose Monkeys (that's police and fire fighters for you normal people) have similar ways of dealing with things.

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Sectionate, i really appreciate the info, and truely, i do understand where your coming from. I just really wish the VA had admitted to there being such a thing when my father had come back from 'Nam, rather than turning him away as a "quack". They had known about "shell shock" from wars past yet threw a marine back to the streets that was looking for help. Now im not trying to downplay the VA, they do do good things. All im saying is had they had helped him, and the dreams stopped, he may not have taken his life, part-way through one of his dreams. Which in turn, i wouldnt have found him, and consequently i wouldnt have the dreams that plague me, again to which the VA has denied me, saying that my time in the marine corps wasnt long enough to qualify for VA beni's. I do really appreciate the time youve spent though getting the info out to the forums. I read through it and show most of the symptoms for it. I just really hate headshrinkers ever since my situation, ive had a ripe few that just put a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway, now that ive rambled on, at 3:40 in the morning. Semper Fi sectionate, good luck and good hunting!
OOOORahh

I am sorry that your situation came to be as it is. How long were you in?
Definantly try to appeal the VA's decision to not let you participate in their outstanding programs. Try talking to the PTSD branch coordinator at your local VA. I keep my program director's card in my wallet at all times.
Try contacting the PTSD clinic at your VA directly and explain your problems to them and try to work out a solution regarding benefits.
Let me know if you need any help and I will do my best to help you.
Another option is to contact your chain of command. Also your local public health department has counseling for free (at least in Gainesville FL they do) where you get help from interns practicing to be psychiatrists. They are monitored by usually 1-3 licensed headshrinkers who (after you are gone) help the intern by telling them what they did wrong and guiding them to the advice for the next session. I did that for relationship counseling and got a great amount of information and techniques to deal with problems that the wife and I were encountering. LMK devil.
Semper Fi
sectionate

I've got a little myself...mild, but still there. My wife says I still call radio stuff out in my sleep form time to time, and she has said she acts like the other RTO to get me to sign off and get back to sleep sleep (as opposed to sleep-radioing..)

I saw some stressful stuff, as well as had a parachute malfunction/accident myself.

S8 is right - one of the biggest helps is family and friends. I know I don't have it as bad as others, but it's still personal, and still make me embarrased once in a while. Family and friends can be a valuable tool if they learn about PTSD so they can get involved and be there for ya...

--TAG--

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I was in a car accident where my 4Runner rolled over twice. Now whenever I pass people on the highway, for some reason I freak out. I seriously have never had such a feeling ever. I was always one of those people that have nerves of steel on the road. Not anymore.

Ain't that the truth. I have/HAD it, but after a year or so of counseling and some meds i'm pretty much over it. So if you even THINK you have it, do yourself a favor and get some help. Good post Sectionate!

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Interesting topic...

A MUST READ FOR MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT...

LTC Dave Grossman's book "ON COMBAT: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace"

Especially those with combat exposure, this book gives great insight.

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The pain and suffering are inevitable, but the misery is optional--EMBRACE THE SUCK

...I will die, with my shield before me, facing the enemy.

Colonel Grossman also wrote On Killing, a classic on how we condition folks for killing from adolescence. Helped me get a handle on a lot of things.

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I have a friend who broke her back in three places during a rollover accident, and was trapped in the car for 20 minutes listening the the occupants of another vehicle screaming for help right before it burst into flames and killed them all. She has been diagnosed with PTSD and has been working with counselors for years to be able to function normally again.

I don't know about my old man. Riverboat gunner in VN, lots and lots of weird quirks to his personality. Some of them fall under the description of PTSD, but I don't think he's ever said more than 10 words about his experiences there to any of us, so I can't even begin to guess. In fact, it's only recently that he even told me what unit he was in, when he went to visit a museum exhibit for them in Virginia.

I'm glad your freind is getting help and hope that your pop has had soem as well.
I understand the not talking thing though.
I haven't told my parents the whole story of my deployments, though my wife is a great listener (when she stops nagging(J/K))
Talking about those things can't always be an interview. Rapid-fire questions make many people who already have difficulty talking about things do not help at all.
By no means go out and try to figure out every little detail. In time, things will be revealed or they were never to be told in the first place.

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