Pre-Call Preparation For Firefighters

While participating in a call is likely to be more anxiety-arousing for new personnel, even experienced responders can find calls to be a stressful experience. Understanding and practicing psychological performance skills can help reduce the stressful impact of emergency work. Specifically, reminding yourself to take a positive and performance-oriented focus when the alarm sounds is a good way to prepare to perform your best.

Photo by Peter MacDonald/The Recorder Firefighters prepare to attack a three-alarm fire in a Greenfield, MA, book store in January 1996. Understanding and practicing psychological performance skills can help reduce the stressful impact of emergency work.

The most productive psychological perspective can be achieved by considering four aspects to your response in an emergency situation. These four aspects can be summarized by the term PACE, which stands for Preparation, Arousal, Confidence and Event focus.

The emergency call is the ultimate challenge for responders. It is not an opportunity to fail but a chance to become involved. It is the opportunity to use your best skills, the results of your hard work and training. It is the opportunity to put it all together for the benefit of the people you serve.

Preparation. Remember, you are prepared. You have completed extensive training and reinforced this with drills. You have succeeded. And, paid or not, you are a professional. Your expertise will increase with every call and situation you see. Every day prepares you more and more when you are open to learning.

Doubts and wondering about needing more training will only prevent you from using the skills you already have to your maximum. At the time of the alarm, you are and will need to be the best that you can be at that time. You will need to do your best. That is all that anyone can ask of you. That is all that you can ask of yourself.

You can supplement the training you had by use of the various psychological performance techniques discussed in past Fire Psychology columns. For example, using imagery to "run through" the response or to anticipate possible approaches or complications can sharpen your focus.

Arousal. This is the second important aspect to consider in preparing for the response. Response arousal refers to the degree that you are "up" or energized for the response. This is normal during a response and everyone experiences some arousal. No one is perfectly calm during a call. In fact, some degree of arousal is needed to promote the best readiness.

Too much arousal, however, is experienced as stress or anxiety and inhibits smooth response. Therefore, learning psychological techniques to control your level of arousal can be extremely important in preparing to respond. In general, remember that some arousal is needed and that it is a sign that your body is in its "ready state."

Confidence. This is the third key aspect to preparing psychologically for a response. Feel confident that your training has prepared you to respond well at the emergency call. Feel confident that your arousal level will ready you to perform smoothly. However, just as you should not expect to feel totally calm during a response, it is natural to have some questions about readiness. It is normal to wonder if some further training might not have been useful now. This margin, short of perfection, is what stimulates firefighters to want to improve and further their skills. Remember, overconfidence can be just as much of a problem as lack of confidence.

Realistically evaluate your level of skill and use input from others who have the experience to evaluate your skill. When you can benefit from further training, pursue it. Don't assume that everyone else is totally confident or calm either. Reinforcing and supporting each other does much to bolster personal confidence as well as that of fellow responders on the scene.

Confidence grows with experience. Know that at the time of the response, you can place any questions or doubts aside and focus on the task at hand.

Event focus. At the time of the call, FOCUS. Focus on your skills. The call requires that you put into practice the skill you have worked so hard to develop. This is done by concentrating on your skills and your techniques.

This is not the time to think about what you should have done in training. This is not the time to "hope" or "wish" to do well. This is not even the time to think about the outcome of the call. All these things distract from the focus you need.

If you focus on your skills, you will perform well and the outcome will take care of itself. Hoping, wishing or swearing will not accomplish this. Focusing on your skills will. You get the outcome you want by executing your skills well.

Focusing On Your Skills

Outcomes are unpredictable and can be uncontrollable. But even if the outcome of the call is negative, you will feel more comfortable knowing that you have tried and performed your best. (You can't do any more than this.) This is achieved by focusing on your skills and what you need to do.

Focusing on your response skills can be enhanced by the use of some of the other psychological performance techniques described in previous columns. Being aware of your thinking or "self-talk" can help your focus. Avoiding negative and critical self-talk and engaging in self-talk that is technical-performance-oriented cements your focus. The use of negative-thought-stopping techniques can help to prevent distractions. Finally, concentration training drills can strengthen essential concentration abilities.

In summary, remember that an emergency call is an extension of your training and your caring. It is an opportunity to become involved and help in a way few others can. You have been trained. You are prepared. Your feelings of arousal should signal to you that you are ready to respond. Have confidence in yourself. Focus on your skills. Avoid negative self-talk. Encourage yourself.