This recording is from 2018 or earlier, prior to national registration for paramedics being implemented in Australia and Aotearoa. Please note that while there is some excellent content that pre-dates registration, some may be out of date or no longer relevant to current guidelines and standards.
Presented by Todd Wehr
Todd Wehr (Dip Hlth. Sci., BA(Psych), M(Couns)) is the Executive Manager of Staff Support Services, “Priority One” Program within the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
How we think about and understand trauma can make a significant difference in how we are affected by trauma. For many years we have thought about trauma in terms of pathology. In how it can damage us, or result in psychological injury. This has resulted in a dominant discourse that has led to fear for many working in a pre-hospital environment and prevented them from accessing support when it might have been helpful. A fear around psychological reactions which are actually a result of the brain doing what it was designed to do. In fact, the presence of these reactions is a sign that the brain, in the immediate weeks following a potentially traumatic event, is working in exactly the way that it is designed to. Victor Frankl coined the term “an abnormal reaction to an abnormal event is normal”. This statement is particularly relevant for Paramedics. We need to change the way we talk and think about trauma. We need to change the dominant pathological discourse about trauma to a Salutogenic discourse that can lead to a greater self-understanding, self-compassion, openness to accessing support, higher levels of resilience and Post Traumatic Growth."
The College is the peak professional body representing and supporting paramedics and student paramedics across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand since 1973.
The College acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land and sea in which we live and work, we recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and culture and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.
The College acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and Treaty of Waitangi partners in Aotearoa New Zealand.
