Gratitude feels good and practising it regularly improves our mental fitness and wellbeing.
Just as importantly, being on the receiving end of that gratitude is good for us, too.
Both these reasons are behind Thank a First Responder Day, held on 8 June. This is our opportunity to thank the career staff and volunteers who put themselves at risk in order to keep all of us safe.
First responders do extraordinary jobs, saving lives and protecting our communities. However, they are also normal people who can find it difficult to cope with the challenges they face in their work.
The ‘hero’ label is often used in describing the work of first responders, but many first responders don’t sit comfortably with this label. Many are in their jobs due to a desire to help others.
However, they are indeed human. We know that more than half of all emergency responders are deeply impacted by the traumas they face in the course of their duties:
- First responders have higher rates of psychological distress and higher rates of diagnosis of mental health conditions than the general adult population.
- First responders are more than twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts and are more likely to make suicide plans.
- Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20 and the COVID-19 pandemic compound people’s trauma exposure.
The act of expressing our gratitude helps to boost a first responder’s sense of being surrounded by goodness, when all too often their lens sees the opposite.
Thank a First Responder Day is a sincere expression of gratitude not just for our own benefit, but also for the benefit for those who receive it.