Evidence-based EMS chaplaincy

Russ Myers, DMin, BCC. Photo via EMS1.com.

Dr. Russ Myers, EMS Chaplain for Allina Health, recently published an article in EMS Chaplaincy. You can read the article there and a summary at EMS1.com. Myers notes that

Professional chaplains are turning to original research to provide the foundations for clinical practice. Though measurement tools are not commonly associated with the work of the EMS chaplain, our work can be informed by the intentional use of research methods.

Speaking his relationship with EMS personnel, Myers said

A guiding principle for me has been, “the time of a crisis is not the time for us to be shaking hands.”

That is, we need to know each other, so that when the inevitable high-stress calls come, the dispatchers, paramedics and EMTs know who we are and why we are reaching out to them.

A reactive model of chaplaincy would resemble the employee assistance program, in which the provider is accessible on an on-call basis. Our proactive approach does not wait for the employee to ask; rather the chaplain reaches out to the employee to express concern and offer support.

Transparency is essential to the relationship; there is no hidden agenda. The “why” of this job is “because we care.” Employees know I am contacting them because we all know this is a challenging field in which to work, and we, as an organization, care about the wellbeing of our people.

Read more at EMS Chaplaincy.