What Really is ‘Essential’ Right Now

Well here it is…I feel like I should be honest and tell you why I wrote this. I’m a paramedic and work for an international company that has the federal government contract for FEMA deployments here in the US. We have over 38,000 employees in the pre-hospital setting both on the ground and in the air. Over the last 2.5-3 months my entire job has shifted from educating hospital and EMS agencies, to making calls and checking in on our employees that have been exposed to COVID-19, completed a deployment and/or just needed a shoulder to lean on. It has been mentally exhausting sitting behind a computer and feeling helpless as the person on the other end of my phone is in fear or just experienced first hand the intense time in NY and NJ. Mental health has never been on my radar for the past 18 years in EMS…now I’m more aware and passionate about making sure everyone in this career field knows it’s ‘ok’ to not be ‘ok’. There is help out there and it is MORE than ok to accept that help!