FATIGUE & STRESS MANAGEMENT

The job of disaster response can often be stressful and sometimes traumatic. In austere environment, conditions can take a toll on mental health. It is vital to mental fitness to address feeling overwhelmed by stress and trauma before they become a mental health issue. Mental fitness is just as essential as physical fitness for duty.

Mental Health Continuum Model. (Click on image to enlarge.)

AWARENESS

Stress Injuries can be caused by:

A Life Threat: Due to an experience of death-provoking terror, horror, or helplessness.
A Loss Injury: A grief injury due to the loss of cherished people, things, or parts of oneself.
A Moral Injury: Due to behaviors or the witnessing of behaviors that violate moral values.
Cumulative Stress: Due to the accumulation of stress from all sources over time without sufficient rest and recovery.

RECOGNITION

Stress Size-up, monitor yourself and others for:

Hazardous attitudes and stress reactions.
Behavior changes (not talking, isolating, outbursts, increased use of substances, or making mistakes).
Troubling feelings (fear, anger, anxiety, sadness, guilt, or shame).
Thoughts of or mention self-harm or suicide.

MITIGATION

Stress First Aid:

Shrink the stigma – talk about it!
Provide opportunities to calm:
- Take a tactical stress pause.
- Refocus; identify what really matters.
- Try tactical breathing or similar techniques.
- Get additional time off if needed.
Get help. Just like in a medical incident, a higher level of care may be necessary.
Reach out to friends, peers, loved ones, etc., for support.

Burnout Vs. Stress

Stress is often caused by a feeling that life is out of control. Stress can be brought on by long work hours, conflicts at home, or working under pressure. Typically, once the situation resolves itself or changes, stress lessens, or may disappear entirely. If not resolved, stress can impact your physical and mental well-being. Having to choose between work, family, or other priorities can become a long-term stressor.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It can take place over a long period. Burnout might occur if your work seems meaningless or if there is no end in sight under difficult work conditions. Burnout may happen due to a disconnect between work and life outside of work. Long disaster response away from family, shortage of resources, gaps in key leadership positions, and communities threatened or lost can all contribute to burnout of response personnel. Additional contributing factors to burnout can be a culture that is pressured to be as tough as possible, not show weakness, or to speak up when you need help.

ACTION:

Discuss what signs indicate stress in a person? How can you as an individual, or you as a crew, mitigate stress and prevent burnout?

Fatigue & Stress

Accumulated (chronic) Fatigue is defined as fatigue from which normal rest does not produce recovery. Accumulated fatigue is often caused by extended periods of stress with inadequate recovery periods, which results in decreased productivity, compromised immune function, and reduced alertness. Fatigued workers perform poorly, behave carelessly, tolerate greater errors, and become inattentive. Chronic fatigue often results in increased stress, which may present itself through certain behavioral and physiological indicators, such as those described below:

Behavioral indicators:

Decreased motivation and low morale.
Increased irritability and depression.

Physiological indicators:

Confusion, poor problem-solving.
Poor abstract thinking.
Poor attention/decisions.
Poor concentration/memory.
Extreme emotional responses.
Social/behavioral changes.

Recommendations for chronic fatigue/stress are:

Take longer periods of rest/recovery.
Ensure that workers are adequately rested before they begin work shifts.
Provide periodic rest breaks to allow physical and mental recovery.
Alternate between heavy and light tasks.
Eat well-balanced meals regularly, with energy supplements during periods of high exertion.
Maintain hydration.
Ensure workers maintain good personal hygiene.
Maintain high standards of medical, including mental, and physical fitness.
In extreme cases, personnel may need to be relieved of their duties.

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