The Truth About Transformation in Emergency Services
The quote “This job will change you, but it doesn’t have to damage you” is my favorite quote from Ellen Kirschman’s book, I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know. As someone who worked alongside EMTs and paramedics for five years, I’ve witnessed this truth from a unique vantage point – close enough to understand the weight, yet removed enough to maintain perspective.
Understanding the Dual Nature of Change in High-Stress Environments
Emergency responders consistently encounter situations that most people only experience once in a lifetime. Each call, each emergency, each life-or-death decision shapes them. But as mental health expert Ellen Kirschman emphasizes in her work with first responders, these experiences can foster growth rather than cause harm.
The Science of Resilience in Emergency Services
Research consistently shows that exposure to challenging situations, when properly processed and supported, leads to:
- Enhanced emotional resilience
- Deepened empathy and compassion
- Strengthened professional identity
- Improved crisis management skills
Walking the Line: An Insider-Outsider Perspective
Through years of:
- Sitting with EMTs and medics after their shifts to discuss life
- Handling escalated situations with other first responder agencies
- Teaching a variety of classes to first responders
- Participating in regular ride-outs on the ambulance
I gained unique insights into how the job transforms not just the responders, but everyone in their orbit. While I never bore the direct weight of life-and-death decisions, my role supporting emergency personnel gave me an intimate window into their experiences and the vital importance of having a strong support system.
Building Mental Health Equipment: Essential Tools for Resilience
Just as first responders maintain their trucks and gear, maintaining mental health requires consistent attention and care. This includes:
Regular Mental Health Check-ins
Creating strong support networks within and outside the department helps process difficult experiences. Regular debriefing sessions and peer support programs provide essential outlets for processing trauma.
Work-Life Balance Strategies
Establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life allows first responders to recharge and maintain perspective. This includes dedicated family time and pursuing interests outside of emergency services.
The Critical Role of Support Networks
My experience distributing copies of Kirschman’s book to first responder’s spouses highlighted a crucial truth: family members and support staff play a vital role in helping first responders process their experiences. As an “outsider” whose job was to tell their stories, I observed that having someone to listen who:
- Understands the context but isn’t directly involved
- Can offer perspective without carrying the same emotional burden
- Serves as a bridge between the emergency services world and civilian life
can make the difference between healthy transformation and potential damage.
The Storyteller’s Role in Emergency Services: Bridging Two Worlds
Those of us who work alongside first responders but aren’t on the front lines serve as vital bridges between the emergency services world and the broader community. In my years working with EMS crews and firefighters, I learned that being the storyteller meant more than just participating in community events and posting on social media. It meant being the keeper of institutional memory, the translator of experiences, and sometimes, the safe harbor after difficult calls.
When I received late-night calls from angry fire chiefs about alleged incidents with our paramedics, my role wasn’t just to manage the situation – it was to understand the deeper story. What pressures were the crews under? What systemic issues might have contributed to the problem? How could we learn from this to support our teams better?
During meetings with our crews on Saturdays at the park or late nights in the station, I noticed that EMTs and medics would often share different details with me than they would with their direct supervisors. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t responsible for their evaluations, or maybe it was because I approached their stories with genuine curiosity rather than judgment. They would tell me about:
- The weight of decisions made in split seconds
- The families they connected with during calls
- The victories that seemed small to others but meant everything to them
- The calls that haunted them, not because they went wrong, but because they hit too close to home
This role of storyteller extends beyond just listening and documenting. We help:
- Translate emergency services experiences into language that administrators and policymakers can understand
- Preserve the lessons learned from both successes and failures
- Identify patterns that might not be visible to those in the thick of the work
- Create narratives that help new recruits understand what they’re stepping into
- Build bridges between departments and the communities they serve
Perhaps most importantly, we help humanize the badge. When I taught classes to firefighters or went ride-alongs, I wasn’t just sharing or gathering information – I was helping to weave together the complex tapestry of their professional lives.
Through this work, I’ve learned that being a storyteller in emergency services wasn’t just about recording what happened – it was about helping make meaning from experiences, fostering understanding across different groups, and ensuring that the human element of emergency services was never lost in the midst of protocols and procedures.
Moving Forward: Embracing Change While Protecting Mental Health
When I think about how emergency services has evolved in its approach to mental health, I’m both heartened and humbled. I remember hearing about the days when asking for help was seen as a sign of weakness, when tough calls were processed over beers instead of in dedicated debriefing sessions, and when “sucking it up” was the prescribed treatment for trauma. We’ve come a long way from there, but we still have so much ground to cover.
The shift I’ve witnessed most profoundly is in how we view the impact of this work on our people. We used to see changes in our first responders as battle scars – inevitable marks of service that you just had to learn to live with. But now, we’re starting to understand that these changes can be catalysts for growth rather than wounds to endure. I’ve sat with EMTs who tell me how a particularly challenging call didn’t break them but instead helped them discover reserves of strength they never knew they had. I’ve watched paramedics transform their most harrowing experiences into teaching moments for rookies, turning potential trauma into tools for building resilience.
What excites me most about the future is how we’re finally learning to be proactive rather than reactive about mental health. Departments are implementing regular check-ins, peer support programs, and family resources before crises hit, not after. They’re creating spaces where it’s okay to not be okay, where seeking help is seen as professional development rather than personal weakness. This evolution isn’t just about preventing damage – it’s about fostering growth. When we understand that change is inevitable but damage is optional, we open up new possibilities for how we can support our first responders in building long, healthy careers that don’t come at the cost of their mental health. The key isn’t to avoid being changed by this profession – it’s to ensure that those changes make us stronger, more compassionate, and more effective at serving our communities while taking care of ourselves and each other.
A Legacy of Growth: Redefining Strength in Emergency Services
Looking back on my years working alongside EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters, I’ve come to understand that resilience in emergency services isn’t just about enduring – it’s about evolving. Kirschman’s powerful observation that “this job will change you, but it doesn’t have to damage you” isn’t just a comforting thought; it’s a roadmap for how we can approach the intense challenges of emergency response work.
I’ve seen this truth play out countless times – in the quiet conversations late at night, in the way experienced responders mentor their younger colleagues, and in the growing acceptance that seeking support is a sign of wisdom, not weakness. The transformation that comes with this work is inevitable. Every call, every save, every loss leaves its mark. But these marks don’t have to be scars. They can be stepping stones to deeper understanding, greater compassion, and more effective service.
As a storyteller in this field, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing both the challenges and the triumphs. I’ve seen a few departments evolve from viewing mental health support as an afterthought to making it a cornerstone of their operations. I’ve watched as the old culture of “tough it out” has gradually given way to one of “reach out.” And most importantly, I’ve seen countless first responders emerge from their most challenging experiences not diminished, but enlarged – more capable, more compassionate, and more connected to both their colleagues and the communities they serve.
The future of emergency services lies not in pretending the work doesn’t affect us, but in creating environments where these effects can be channeled into positive growth. It’s about building support systems that are as robust as our emergency response protocols, fostering connections that help us process our experiences, and maintaining perspective that allows us to embrace change without being damaged by it.
This isn’t just about survival – it’s about transformation. When we acknowledge that change is inevitable and focus our energy on making it constructive rather than destructive, we don’t just preserve our first responders – we empower them to thrive. And in doing so, we ensure that the next generation of emergency responders inherits not just our protocols and procedures, but also our growing wisdom about how to make this challenging work sustainable and enriching.