EMERGENCY SERVICES FOUNDATION FAMILIES GUIDE | 5 | EMERGENCY SERVICES FOUNDATION FAMILIES GUIDE 4 Understand how family can support emergency service volunteers. Recognise the signs of mental distress. Support and talk to your children about emergency services work. Support and talk to the emergency service volunteer in your family about how they have been impacted by the work they do. Know where to go for help if you or the emergency services volunteer in your family needs it. Introduction Families play a vital role in supporting emergency service workers to be mentally fit for the important work they do in serving our community. This Guide is intended to help families of emergency service workers – especially families of volunteers. It has been developed with input from partners, children and other relatives who have experience living with an emergency service worker. We listened to their stories and have tried to address their needs and concerns in a practical way. No one is an island. We know the stress and strain from trying to integrate many roles can have a negative ripple effect into family life, yet volunteers often rely on their family to support them to do important emergency service work whether it be in preparing the community, responding to disaster, or supporting the recovery process. ESF has spoken to many emergency service volunteers, and has learned that despite the challenges, most who serve as emergency service volunteers are totally committed to their community and their role as an emergency service volunteer. Families share their commitment and are usually keen to support their family members who volunteer. They often feel a real sense of pride in the work their loved one does, and they generally want to know more about how they can support the wellbeing of their family member. Like volunteers, families live with the unpredictability of emergency services work, call outs, deployments, and the fear of major incidents. There is growing recognition that what affects the volunteer invariably affects their relationships with partners, children, and other family members. Families are often left to keep the domestic show on the road when the emergency service worker is absent on callouts, deployments, training or shift work, often with no advance notice – in this way, families serve too! ESF’s research showed that more needs to be done to support families and this is just the start. This guide will help you to: 1 2 4 3 5
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