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Paramedics and others mentally train themselves as they work at the scenes of accidents and fires, but shootings are unique, and (in Japan) they usually don't see gunshot wounds. They were shocked by the horrific incident, and so we want to work to provide psychological care.

16 Comments

A representative of Nara city's fire department general affairs division. Six of the 24 emergency responders at the scene where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in Nara on July 8 are showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to officials.

© Mainichi Shimbun

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

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I think being immune from such squeamishness should be a prime prerequisite for the job. I cant imagine that the sight of a gunshot would is worse than of severe blunt force trauma of traffic accidents, not to mention the aftermath of a train-jumping suicide. Ugh.

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I think being immune from such squeamishness should be a prime prerequisite for the job

That would guarantee an even worse emergency services coverage. Very few people are immune to the violence of a shooting, and being Japan this is not necessary but for the rarest exceptions. A wound will look like a wound, but the meaning behind it is what affect the people exposed to the incidence, for example how easily someone can erase a life just by pulling a trigger without the victim having any way to defend himself.

There is nothing wrong with recognizing a traumatic event and providing psychological care, this allows people to recover and even become resistant to the violence in a positive and healthy way.

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Normally especially they are well trained for any scenario through photo slideshows or videos etc, aren’t they nowadays? I remember my high school time behind the iron curtain during Cold War times. We as teenagers were shown what can happen at traffic accident scenes as a warning and how to provide first aid in public traffic education, the same for fire emergency during fire prevention lessons and of course the others more militarily colored lessons where we were taught basics about potential ABC (atomic, biological and chemical) incidents and how to act or provide aid and transportation of victims etc. We were even trained to quickly put a gas mask on, dress up into an anti-atomic safety suit and then transporting a dummy victim, taken time by stopwatch, sweating and under summer heat. Of course admitted, a real and bloody situation is still a lot more shocking, but the psychologically damaging and unexpected shocks were for the most part handled by those training lessons for civilians.

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@JeffLee, you can’t expect people to automatically be immune to such sights if they’ve had little or no exposure.

Remember, this is Japan and they don’t have many gunshot victims so its no surprise this has affected some first responders, especially as it affected a prominent politician.

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Especially as it ‘involved’ a prominent politician

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I guess they are more used to see stabbing wounds and people who jumped from high buildings / in front of trains

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I also presume that Nara is fairly laid back.

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I really think it has to do more with who got shot and how it shocked the country than anything else. I talked to a few people who were a bit traumatized because they feel an emotional connection due to the celebrity status of the victim. Even looking at the U.S. when MLK or JFK got shot, it had kind of the same effect. You never hear this when some yak guy gets offed because even the paramedics are probably thinking "good riddance."

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That would guarantee an even worse emergency services coverage.

The exact opposite is the case.

Very few people are immune to the violence of a shooting, and being Japan this is not necessary but for the rarest exceptions. 

Your point is not related to the facts presented in the title or the other comments.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

shootings are unique, and (in Japan) they usually don't see gunshot wounds.

As if shootings are an everyday thing in other countries.

With the exception of the USA, shootings are rare in most developed countries.

I was a paramedic in Canada and the only time I saw a shooting was The École Polytechnique massacre in 1989 an extremely rare thing. Prior to that and after that, I never again saw a gunshot wound, plenty of knife wounds.

My former partner did over 30 years on the ambulances and that was his only shooting, his son is presently a paramedic and has never seen a single gunshot victim.

Sure it is rarer in Japan but too often we compare things here to the USA, instead of the rest of the civilized world.

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Yeah but the thing is whether stabbing or shooting or earthquake casualties or plane crashes a bloody mess is still well ... a ... bloody mess. You know the kind first responders are to deal with.

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The exact opposite is the case.

How so? how does asking for an impossible requirement makes more people qualified?

Your point is not related to the facts presented in the title or the other comments.

Of course it does, once again you don't liking what other people think do not make things unrelated, that is just your biased perception. This is very easy to prove as you were unable to even argument how this is the case.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

JeffLee

Aug. 1 06:04 am JST

I think being immune from such squeamishness should be a prime prerequisite for the job. I cant imagine that the sight of a gunshot would is worse than of severe blunt force trauma of traffic accidents, not to mention the aftermath of a train-jumping suicide. Ugh

Actually it isn't squeamish it is the difference nature and problems a bullet presents to the medical responders.

Example:

A knife wound can be slashing or straight piercing (stabbing).

A slash we (paramedic) can see must of the damage, a stabbing we can take an educated guess as to the internal damage.

A bullet we see a small entrance wound and in some cases an exit wound.

But in reality the bullet remains inside and we have no idea where that things has bounced around and what damage it has done internally.

So a stabbing in the shoulder the damage is usually contained to the immediate area.

A bullet hitting the shoulder could go right through or hit a bone, change direction into the chest cavity through a lung, the heart etc...so what looks like I small wound is a fatal or potentially fatal wound.

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