INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis paramedics are sounding the alarm on mental health concerns while on the job. One EMS worker is working to improve the issue.
Emergency service workers are four times more likely to be injured on the job, according to multiple trade groups. It’s a statistic that rings true in the Circle City, as workers say paramedics are facing challenges in the face of a rapidly growing Indianapolis.
Grace Denny is a local paramedic and is a representative for the Local 416 Union. Indianapolis EMS says workers respond to an average of over 350 calls a day. Denny says every paramedic will have a violent encounter with a patient at least once each week.
“We’ve noticed a lot of lack of support from our management or bosses or things like that, whether it’s they don’t have time or they don’t notice. They don’t check up on us after runs,” Denny said.
Denny and her fellow paramedics spend their days helping people, but it can come at a cost.
“I know last week we had someone who was actually bit by a patient in the back of the ambulance who then left the ambulance,” she said.
She explained the three key dangers on the job. The first concerns physical safety.
“We have people who will chase us in their cars,” Denny said. “We’ve had people have guns pulled on them while they’re driving that have nothing to do with our run. We have patients get combative in the back of the ambulance, outside of the ambulance. So, definitely concern for all of us on the streets.”
She says drugs and alcohol can make those situations more dangerous. EMS workers don’t carry weapons, meaning the workers must verbally de-escalate the situation.
Denny says the numbers have only grown as EMS workers fight staffing shortages.
“Turnover rate is huge, for a lot of reasons,” Denny said. “Some people use EMS as a stepping stone to go to the fire department or to go doctor, nurse, things like that, and then other times it’s just the run volume will get you down. It’s exhausting doing 12 runs a day every day for 60 hours a week.”
The second key danger is posed by unfamiliar areas. Certain buildings and alleyways can be difficult to navigate.
“We just don’t know what’s going on around you,” Denny said. “It might be the outside, or public, that’s causing the threat to you.”
The last key danger comes after workers respond to a call. That’s the mental health impact of what they’re seeing.
Denny says there’s no tool to process the trauma. If workers want to get help, it’s often paid out of pocket. She’s trying to do something about that.
Come October, the EMS World Expo will happen in Indianapolis, for the first time. Denny is hosting an event to raise money for mental health resources for her peers.
“Whether that be certified therapists who know what they’re doing and how to help or, you know, working with their management to give them that time to decompress after runs,” Denny said. “We really want to kind of build that from the start and train our peers to know how to help each other with that too, because that’s another huge thing.”
Denny’s EMS World Expo Tent Party will start on Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. at Union Hall on Massachusetts Avenue.
The event is open to the public and will feature music, food trucks, drinks and merchandise. All the proceeds either go to the event or to working toward creating mental health tools.
If you would like to donate now, click this link.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
