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Post-Traumatic Stress

​"Acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder occur after a distressing or catastrophic event. Common examples include involvement in war, accidents (such as traffic or physical accidents), assault (including physical or sexual assault, mugging or robbery, or family violence), or witnessing a significant event. Mass traumatic events include terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and severe weather events (such as hurricane, tsunami, or forest fire).
"In acute stress disorder, the person gets over the event within a month, whereas in post-traumatic stress disorder, the distress lasts longer. Some who experience acute stress disorder go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. A person is more likely to develop post-traumatic stress if the response to an event involves intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
"A major symptom is re-experiencing the trauma. This can include recurrent dreams, flashbacks, intrusive memories, or unrest in situations that bring back memories of the original trauma. 
"There is also avoidance behavior, such as persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, as well as emotional numbing, which may continue for months or years, and reduced interest in others and the outside world. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal also can occur, such as constant watchfulness, irritability, jumpiness, being easily startled, outbursts of rage, or insomnia."
-Mental Health First Aid USA, p.42, Copyright 2009

Acute stress should be resolved within one month of the event. If you're experiencing any symptoms of post-traumatic stress more than one month after an event, it is recommended that you get professional assistance.
Self Test
Resources
Compassion Fatigue
 

Post-Traumatic Survey

"If you have recently been exposed to a potentially traumatic event (PTE), here is a tool that may help you to identify whether or not you should seek additional help in recovering from its effects."
-NFFF Life Safety Initiative #13
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Click here for self-test
or download

Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ)
Trauma Screening Questionnaire
File Size: 253 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

It is recommended that the TSQ be offered 3-4 weeks post-trauma to allow time for normal recovery processes to take place. If at that point you have 6 or more "yes" answers, a referral to a Behavioral Health Practitioner is indicated.

-C.R. Brewin et al, 2002, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation website, https://www.everyonegoeshome.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/04/FLSI13TSQ.pdf
If you're experiencing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress, you may also call one of our Chaplains, a member of the Peer Support Team, or one of the crisis help lines below. All are confidential conversations.
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Post Traumatic Stress Resources

Code 4 Northwest
(425) 243-5092
Immediate Help is Available. Code 4 Northwest is an entirely volunteer-run, free and confidential crisis response and referral network for Washington State active and retired first responders, EMS, corrections, civilian support personnel, and their families. If you're struggling with depression, a volunteer is waiting on the phone line.

PTSD Foundation of America
Informational and support resource for people who have or might have PTSD and their families. The site has a self-assessment as well as a Crisis/Hotline Resource page.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by the Nebraska Department of Veteran's Affairs
An informational website with a printable self-assessment to assist you in identifying symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress.

IAFF Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery
Opening in March of 2017, the "IAFF Center for Excellence" is built and developed by Advanced Recovery Systems, and will be located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland to offer treatment of successful recovery from post-traumatic stress and co-occurring addictions and help IAFF members return to the job as quickly as possible. The Center will offer: Detox, Intensive in-patient care, Residential care including medical monitoring, Outpatient care and services, and 12-step meetings. For more information use the website linked through the name or by calling 1 (855) 900-8437. ​

Veteran Affairs Tacoma
Tacoma Veterans resource center PTSD

Stepstone Connect
Stepstone Connect is an organization based out of Utah connected to Dear Hollow.  Dear Hollow is geared around working with first responders and treating everything from post-traumatic stress to addictions.  Stepstone is a an alternative form of counseling, it is all done via video conferencing.  You don’t have to drive to an office and you don’t have to sit in a waiting room hoping to not be recognized.  You don’t have to figure out what day of the week you can go that fits in with your shift schedule and your family schedule.  You meet with a counselor on-line, they work around your shift work schedule, they can connect you with a specialist who just might happen to be in Florida but they are the best in the business with what you are dealing with. And they take insurance.

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Compassion Fatigue

Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project ©
Studies confirm that caregivers play host to a high level of compassion fatigue. Day in, day out, workers struggle to function in care giving environments that constantly present heart wrenching, emotional challenges. Affecting positive change in society, a mission so vital to those passionate about caring for others, is perceived as elusive, if not impossible. This painful reality, coupled with first-hand knowledge of society's flagrant disregard for the safety and well being of the feeble and frail, takes its toll on everyone from full time employees to part time volunteers. Eventually, negative attitudes prevail.
Compassion Fatigue symptoms are normal displays of chronic stress resulting from the care giving work we choose to do. Leading traumatologist Eric Gentry suggests that people who are attracted to care giving often enter the field already compassion fatigued. A strong identification with helpless, suffering, or traumatized people or animals is possibly the motive. It is common for such people to hail from a tradition of what Gentry labels: other-directed care giving. Simply put, these are people who were taught at an early age to care for the needs of others before caring for their own needs. Authentic, ongoing self-care practices are absent from their lives.
If you sense that you are suffering from compassion fatigue, chances are excellent that you are. Your path to wellness begins with one small step: awareness. A heightened awareness can lead to insights regarding past traumas and painful situations that are being relived over and over within the confines of your symptoms and behaviors. With the appropriate information and support, you can embark on a journey of discovery, healing past traumas and pain that currently serve as obstacles to a healthy, happier lifestyle.
Many resources are available to help you recognize the causes and symptoms of compassion fatigue. Healing begins by employing such simple practices as regular exercise, healthy eating habits, enjoyable social activities, journaling, and restful sleep. Hopefully, the information on this website will be of use to you and help you jump-start your process.
Accepting the presence of compassion fatigue in your life only serves to validate the fact that you are a deeply caring individual. Somewhere along your healing path, the truth will present itself: You don't have to make a choice. It is possible to practice healthy, ongoing self-care while successfully continuing to care for others.

Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue

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Normal symptoms present in an individual {with compassion fatigue} include:
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• Excessive blaming
• Bottled up emotions
• Isolation from others
• Receives unusual amount of complaints from others

• Voices excessive complaints about administrative functions

• Substance abuse used to mask feelings

• Compulsive behaviors such as overspending, overeating, gambling, sexual addictions

• Poor self-care (i.e., hygiene, appearance)

• Legal problems, indebtedness

• Reoccurrence of nightmares and flashbacks to traumatic event

• Chronic physical ailments such as gastrointestinal problems and recurrent colds

• Apathy, sad, no longer finds activities pleasurable

• Difficulty concentrating

• Mentally and physically tired

• Preoccupied

• In denial about problems
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Health and Wellness Website

We intend for the information on this website to help you identify and seek remedy for any topics you need addressed. It is not intended to diagnose, but rather get you on your way to improved health with your health care provider or resource provided here.
If you need personal help immediately and confidentially, please call Code 4 Northwest (link) at (425) 243-5092. Our Chaplains and Peer Support Team pages can help you speak with someone just like you.

Contact Us

SKCFTC Training Center
20811 84th Ave S.
​Kent, WA 98032

Phone

(253) 856-4330
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