HE ALTH W E LLN & WELLNES ESS S
MANAGEMENT USING OPERATIONAL TACTICS DURING DOWN TIME BY BEQUI LIVINGSTON
In the wildland world, we have rules and guidelines, some that are inflexible and others with latitude. We have these for a reason, oftentimes creating the roadmap for our tactical operations, woven into the incident action plan. What if we were to take some of these principles into the realm of stress during the off season, and particularly during the holiday season? What if we weave the familiar operations protocol LCES – lookouts, communications, escape routes, safety zones – into the lives of our wildland fire personnel and their families as they navigate the off season, especially those who are laid off or taking vacation time? We know down time can be stressful for anyone, but add traumatic stress experienced during the fire season, and you could have a recipe for disaster. The fire season tends to perpetuate our survival response, keeping our stress hormones in
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a continual cascade, or firestorm. With holidays come stress: finances; socializing; lots of food and booze; time off; and amped up emotions. Because many of us are already in a state of fight-flightfreeze-fawn, we can’t just turn off the spigot of stress hormones; stress hormones can easily get re-activated during this time, creating a firestorm of reactions and behaviors. Particularly for those who have been laid off or are taking time off, there is a lot of opportunity for reflection, and this can be scary. Perhaps we can use the LCES principles to help us better navigate the rigors of down time and the grief and sadness that might accompany it, particularly as we recognize that suicide attempts and completions, along with mental and emotional health conditions in the wildland fire world, are escalating. I recently attended an EMS and mental health conference in New Mexico and learned that
