Mental Shock

[WiseOwl]

Your point is sound. No one knows what he/she will do until the situation arises. Stress training is very beneficial. I personally found that after I get over the initial fear of a given situation a calmness sets in. And I have been tested in regular life as well.
Everyone will be tested at some point in their life, many times, actually. Your child is injured and needs help, your dog got loose and hit by a car.
Dramatic, end-of-the-world situations may never happen in one's lifetime, but smaller ones will - it's the nature of life.
Pay attention and learn from each situation.

Excellent replies guys, excellent!

[BillM]

I was a Deputy Sheriff and had to respond and deal with some tramatic situations . Children are the very worst. The test of your ability to deal with these things is not the worst when you are actively working the scene, it's after the crises is over and you can't do anything else. That is when good people fall apart !

[Klayton]

May I share one thing of experience with you. It might not seem like much, but reality proves otherwise.

Pulling perimeter and we were hit, one man down (in this case it happened to be our female medic who was poking her head up way too high to "observe"). Everybody concentrating on perimeter and nobody concentrating on that dead body...

Funny thing about dead bodies, they tend to draw your attention, then later tend to distract you entirely, to the point you're no longer watching your zone...

Lesson learned, cover any bodies with any form of cover, as soon as possible. If the personnel number permits, actually remove the body from the area. The old saying "out of sight, out of mind" is SERIOUS people. The demoralizing effect of a "dead friend" can cause the entire camp to be overrun all for the fact of not paying attention to your zone of responsibility...

These are lessons you learn in the military. These are the things that will make most civilians scream "disgusting" and never further process the information given. But I am telling you. SH*& HAPPENS IN COMBAT! Be ready.

[monkeybird]

I was a Deputy Sheriff and had to respond and deal with some tramatic situations . Children are the very worst. The test of your ability to deal with these things is not the worst when you are actively working the scene, it's after the crises is over and you can't do anything else. That is when good people fall apart !

You're absolutely right. When there is nothing left to do, good people fall apart. I've seen it among my peers. After the traumatic event when the caregiver/rescuers go home, is when the real struggle to maintain courage and focus begins. When you're in the dark and alone with yourself, the demons tend to awake. Taking classes on coping with stress, or simply studiing stress coping principles, should be part of anyone preps.

Many times I've gotten home unable to rest because of the images which flash through your mind. Fortunately, nurses are given hours of training on how to cope.

[1Admin]

I think a big part of this is learning that not everyone will react in the same exact manner you will or have seen others do.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away- I hosted some friends from all over the country to my place one time. One person was particularly careless with fire, I suffered loss of 1/4 of a structure because of it. That part was bad but the worst thing was the lying about it. I could see the setup for the BS from the fellow but most others were blind to it. I was pretty damn poor at the time but all I heard was that the guy that did it was so poor, had no money, etc. Yet when you looked, he had a new big truck, $1600. match rifle, $400. custom knife, Wiggy's bag, etc. Hardly poor.

The fire was bad enough, the resulting BS because of someone lying about it was even worse. I simply stopped talking. Went about all my normal stuff, functioned fine, just didn't talk. More than a few were not used to seeing that. One guy I really like kept bumrushing me with "you o.k. man? You o.k.?" for the course of a day and a half. I finally replied something to the effect of "I'm $@#$%#$ fine, stop asking."

It wasn't even the fire, it was the lies, deceit and betrayal that was the main issues with me. Everyone was looking at the surface stuff and missing the real issues.

What's important to you in a situation might not be the issue at all with the other person. Learn to "read" other people and know when to give them space and when to cling.

Look at Job's friends. For something like a week they sat there with him saying nothing (mourning). The worse came when they opened their mouths though... :)

[Klayton]

1Admin, he shot your building? OUCH, how do you shoot a building unintentionally?