Post traumatic stress disorder - PTSD

After you deal with any first aid emergency, particularly after CPR and AED use, you will experience some form of emotional response. The whole episode can leave you feeling overwhelmed, and it can cause you to doubt your own expertise as well as what the outcome would have been if you had dealt with things differently. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD affects different people in different ways, and it can last for hours, days, months, or sometimes even years after the event. Common ways it can affect people include flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, depression, fear, stress, having a short temper, and personality changes. They may also change the way they act, and they may avoid situations that remind them of the incident.

There are some guidance on post-traumatic stress disorder given by the World College of Psychiatrists, and we have put a link on the ProTrainings student dashboard area. Some of the ways they recommend you can help yourself or someone else includes talking to a counsellor about what has happened or talking with a friend, doctor, family member or someone at work, trying to keep your life patterns as normal as possible to avoid letting the problem take over your life, go back to the area where it happened and talk to others who were there if possible, take care when getting about, especially when driving, if your concentration is affected or distracted. And finally, relaxation and exercise can help if the issues become too overwhelming to handle, talk to a medical professional.

When you deal with any medical emergency, you can only do your best and it is not possible to change things after the event. The important thing is that you actually help this person, all anyone can ask of you is to do your best... Feel good that you got involved to help the person. In many cases, people simply cannot be bothered and they do not help at all.