Understanding Traumatic Stress: A Guide for First Responders and Healthcare Workers

Jun 05, 2025

How was your day? My wife used to ask me that when I got home almost every day. Most days were tolerable.

But some days, not so much. Some of the things I saw and experienced weren’t experiences I could just “shake off” after a hard day. What makes this worse for first responders, healthcare professionals, and others working in high-stress professions is that traumatic stress can build up over time. And it may get to the point where it doesn’t feel manageable anymore. If you want to finish your career strong, taking steps to understand what traumatic stress is, how it affects you, and what to do about it is the best gift you can give yourself.

Let’s start off with the basics.

What is Traumatic Stress?

Traumatic stress is a psychological and physiological response to experiencing or witnessing events that can overwhelm your ability to cope. Examples might include:

Critical Incidents (fatalities, mass casualties, fire deaths, events involving children, loss of a patient, officer-involved shootings, etc.)
Ongoing exposure to suffering (working in ICUs, burn units, EMS calls, or child protection)
Personal experiences of violence, loss, or disaster

We can all experience acute stress in the immediate aftermath of a critical incident. It’s our mind and body’s natural response to a difficult or painful experience. The symptoms of acute stress (heart racing, nausea, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping) will typically remit in a few hours, but chronic traumatic stress can linger and reshape how your brain processes danger, safety, and relationships. It can even rewire your brain and affect how your body functions under pressure.

Why is this a Big Deal?

It’s important to understand what is happening to us so we can do something about it. When you spend years walking into scenes from which most people run away, your mind and body will adapt to survive. This can happen over time without even realizing it. Before long, you might begin experiencing symptoms like:

Difficulty sleeping
Irritability or emotional numbness (those closest to you will probably notice these changes before you do)
Trouble concentrating
Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts
Hypervigilance or feeling “on edge” all the time
Withdrawal from family or social activities
Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach issues, or fatigue

Many professionals ignore these symptoms or try to “push through” them. Please understand, these are not signs of weakness. They’re simply signs that your nervous system is doing its job. You can begin to act by helping your body regain a baseline that it can maintain.

How Your Brain and Body Respond to Stress

Trauma impacts the parts of your brain responsible for memory, emotion, and threat detection.

The amygdala becomes overactive, triggering a constant “fight or flight” state.
The prefrontal cortex (where rational thought occurs) gets hijacked, making it harder to think clearly.
The hippocampus, the part of our brain that organizes memories, may shrink or begin to function less effectively. This is why trauma memories can feel jumbled or incomplete.

Under chronic stress, your body stays flooded with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can wreak havoc over time. Most first responders and healthcare professionals are so busy that they don’t get a chance to “reset” between calls or shifts.

Common Myths about Traumatic Stress

Myth: Only weak people experience traumatic stress.
Truth: Traumatic stress is a biological response, not a character flaw.
Myth: If it didn’t bother me at the time, it won’t affect me later.
Truth: Trauma can have a delayed onset. It can show up weeks, months, or even years after the event. One of my critical incidents “hit” me about nine years after the event. Some random thing I saw reactivated my traumatic memory, and I had a physical reaction. It seemed to come out of nowhere. But my body “remembered.”
Myth: Talking about it just makes it worse.
Truth: Safe, guided conversations (especially with peer support or trained professionals) are one of the most effective ways to heal.

What You Can Do Today

I suspect that some of what I’ve told you so far sounds familiar. If so, take heart. You can do something about it. And the good news is, you don’t have to go it alone. Here are a few next steps.

Check in with yourself.
Notice what’s going on physically and emotionally. Are you sleeping enough? Eating balanced meals? Connecting with others?
Talk to someone you trust.
A peer supporter, chaplain, therapist, or even a close friend can help you sort through what you’re experiencing.
Practice stress reset techniques.
Breathing exercises, grounding techniques, hobbies, and time away from work can help your nervous system recover.
Learn more about traumatic stress.
Simply understanding what’s happening in your body and brain can reduce anxiety and empower you to act.
Connect with support resources.
Peer support programs, chaplaincy, employee assistance programs (EAP), or trusted therapists can all be a part of your recovery path.

Final Thoughts

If your work involves exposure to trauma, it will affect you. After all, you’re human. Learning about traumatic stress and doing something about it isn’t just about helping yourself. You can’t effectively take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself. When you proactively process your experiences, you will become a stronger, more resilient version of who you already are. And when you do, you can help others do the same.

You’re not alone. Help is available. Healing is possible.

If you found this helpful and want to take the next step, I offer specialized training in traumatic stress, crisis intervention, suicide intervention, and peer support designed for first responders, healthcare workers, chaplains, and other high-stress professionals.

Whether you’re looking to equip your team, launch a peer support program in your agency, or bring suicide prevention training to your area (or online), I’d love to help.

Learn more about available trainings or schedule a free consultation on the website stresscaredoc.com. Or you can email me directly at [email protected]. Let’s work together to create healthier, more resilient teams.