Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress Flashcards
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 121
The responders not feeling some stress on the scene, what are the probable causes?
- Operating at a very minor incident
2. Not grounded in the reality of all that can go wrong.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 121
Emergency scenes elicit stress and emotions like frustration, anxiety, and excitement. What effect do the emotions and stress of the emergency situation have on a decision-maker?
This can impact the responders ability to process information. The greater the stress, the harder it becomes to process information – especially complex and novel information
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 122
What are some of the limitations of your brain? What happens when you hit those limitations?
Limitations of the brain relate to the volume of complex and novel information it can receive and process.
In addition under stress, your brain may revert to using intuition decision-making processes versus rational processes. This itself can add to the stress.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 122
What people might have more stress and an emergency scene?
An analytical person who needs complete reassurance of facts prior to making a decision can feel stress at an emergency scene that doesn’t allow that type of decision-making.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 123
What is the danger that, left unchecked, the extreme stress of an emergency situation, the overload of information, and the emotional response to that stimuli can have on situational awareness?
Under stress you may focus more on the immediate priorities.
When stress levels elevate your brain gives preference to processing information essential for surviving in the current moment.
On the emergency scene this can impact the third level of situational awareness which allows you the ability to project future events.
Once you are lost in just trying to keep up with current events you lose all ability to predict future events, even though they may be exceedingly obvious.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 123
What are two reasons that the reader of an line of duty death might be easily able to see the future outcome where the crew who perished is unable?
- We know what can happen, it’s in the report title.
- Those reading the report lacked the stress, emotion, and overload of the emergency situation. We are not caught being able to only see the present situation and we have perfect situational awareness.
Chapter 8: Physical and Mental Stress 124
What is the fallacy of Monday morning quarterbacking the decisions of other firefighters in near miss in line of duty reports?
It’s easy to see all the cues and clues in a low stress comfortable environment where only pertinent information is provided.
This can give you false confidence that if you were in that situation you would not have overlooked such obvious indicators.
