Optimal First Responder
An optimal first responder is someone who is prepared, can make quick and sound decisions, is physically capable and willing to use these skills to help the population they serve. Whether you're a police officer who spends hours training firearms and safe arrest procedures, a firefighter who repeatedly trains with their SCBA gear and time behind the hose or a nurse who has repeatedly practiced with IV lines and emergency life saving procedures; first responders understand that training these skills can make them optimal for work. Many of these skills are required to be used under extreme stress at a moments notice. But to truly be an Optimal First Responder we must also be able to perform away from the job. Being attentive to our friends and family, being a leader to our children and being a sound partner to our loved ones are skills that go beyond just our jobs and lead to a more fulfilling and passionate life. An Optimal First Responder spends just as much time training to be better in their personal lives as they do in their work lives.
Most first responders have chosen this life as a calling or desire to help others, they have an innate desire to help those that can not help themselves. They have chosen a profession that the cost of helping others comes at the expense of their own physical, psychological and emotional health. For instance, some are willing to go above and beyond into the unknown of a burning building at the expense of their own well being, without realizing that their jobs are running them into small fires every day; the unknown is that if not properly managed these internal daily fires can ignite into an inferno often resulting in such things as addiction, depression, anxiety, relationship issues to name a few.