By Carly Alley
Taking a step back and slowing down when you need to is not quitting, it’s being responsible for yourself and your team, much like Simone Biles did in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Simone chose to step back when she was feeling the mental strain from all the pressure just to get to the Olympics and was quoted saying, “I say, put mental health first.”
She made this courageous decision to protect herself from becoming injured and to protect her teammates by removing herself from the competition, where she could have cost them a medal. We all need to take a lesson from Simone and prioritize ourselves and know our limits.
|More: Prioritizing self-care as a fire or EMS leader
At some point, we won’t be able lead our teams well, and we might even drag them down, if we are not caring for ourselves. Acknowledging when we are at a point where we need to take action to protect our mental health and practice self-care can be difficult. But think of it this way, we all have someone in our lives who we would want to protect if we saw their mental wellbeing wasn’t in a good state. Why wouldn’t we want to do that for ourselves too?
Getting self-care right
When practicing self-care, we need to make sure the activity we do is for us, and something that brings us peace and joy. What I mean by this is that if we “check” the self-care box when we complete a task at home, like cleaning the house, we aren’t actually checking that box. While it might feel great to finally get that off your list, the task of cleaning your house isn’t self-care, because it is one of your regular responsibilities.
Find things that help you disconnect. If work is your stressor and you work in fire, law enforcement or EMS, I don’t recommend binge watching “Chicago Fire” or “Chicago PD.” Getting outdoors in a fresh environment is a great way to disconnect and regenerate, even if it’s just a few minutes to yourself. If your schedule is packed and it stresses you out to think about where you can schedule some time to care for yourself, start with small goals of just a few minutes each day.
Physical injuries are not the only damage we can suffer when we don’t get enough rest, nutrients, time for self-care and time overall to regenerate. We can damage our metal health as much as we can our physical body. When we’re mentally drained, we become less focused, and that’s when injuries and mistakes happen. First responders work through a variety of stressful situations and long work hours – even those of us in leadership roles – and we don’t always notice the toll it takes on us early enough. That’s why we need to be proactive and practice self-care often and early, before we are stressed.
Have more to give
With a focus on maintaining her mental wellbeing, Simone is able to stay disciplined, motivated and create a healthy balance that she needs to contribute to her team’s success and push herself further each day. As Simone puts it, “We can push ourselves further, we always have more to give.”
Most EMS leaders began their career as field clinicians, EMTs and paramedics. In those roles, we often need to stay focused and dedicated so we can push ourselves to give a bit more at the end of an up-all-night 24-hour shift, when our compassion is frayed but necessary for that one last call we receive on our way to the station to head home. Taking care of that one last patient and giving a bit more when I was drained didn’t seem too difficult at the time. I also didn’t notice the signs that it was taking a toll on me: the insomnia I had even when I was off duty, the need to constantly be busy. I knew nothing about self-care; it wasn’t being talked about. Practicing self-care, prioritizing rest and my mental health, were lessons I wish I had learned earlier in my career.
We can’t push ourselves to give more, if we aren’t practicing self-care, checking in on our own mental health and doing the work on the front end so we can push harder on the back end. It’s kind of like running a race, if we don’t ease in and let our muscles and lungs warm up, and give everything we have before the first half, we won’t have more to give when we really need it. If you haven’t made yourself a priority yet and begun protecting yourself from situations that interfere with your wellbeing, each moment gives you an opportunity to start.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carly Alley is the chief operating officer SEMSA/Riggs Ambulance Service in Merced, California. Earlier in her career, Alley served as a firefighter-EMT in the U.S. Forest Service while earning her paramedic certification. After being hired by Riggs, she transitioned to the agency’s tactical EMS program, where she spent 10 years as the team leader before moving into administration.