BC&A reports that the “Top Ten Threats Cited in EMS ASRA [NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System] Reports:

Mission Preparation/Operational Pressure                    93%

Excessive Workload                                                      84%

Communication Difficulties                                            75%

. . .

Distractions                                                                  28%

Pilot                                                                              17%

Assume that EMS personnel are trained and are accustomed to working under stress.  75% of the time they consider communication difficulties a threat?  What does that mean for the rest of us that do not generally work under stress …. our stress experiences has peaks and valleys.

How many times in a typical day do we ‘visit’ the fight/flight/freeze arena?  And how long do we remain that prisoner?   When we sense that our unconscious reactions will overtake our conscious actions, we need to focus on the outcome we want, not escaping from the current situation.

How difficult is it for us to communicate clearly the first time?  And what are our consequences if we don’t.  And how do we know if our meaning and intention are clearly stated?  We can take cues from the other person/people, we can restate our communications several times in several different ways, we can ask them to repeat [not regurgitate] what you said … and you can ask for feedback.

It’s not what you said … it’s what they think they heard.

Every action has two sides … one side faces the sun and the other faces darkness.

If you are facing the darkness, you remain in the past.  Being chained to the past keeps negative feelings churning ….. remorse, jealousy, revenge, guilt …. variations of three of your core emotions: sadness, fear, anger.  Keeping these emotions alive and gnawing at you sustains the cortisol running through your brain … this is the hormone that is released when your brain senses a “fight or flight”situation.  Cortisol was meant to be a short-term solution — kick the adrenaline in for about 30 minutes.  Unfortunately we tend to keep ourselves in these stress situations for longer than 30 minutes, and serious damage can occur.

When your actions face the sun … variations of happy emotions … you are better equipped to see all sides of situations and think creatively for solutions.  You can sense the mood of the other players, along with ‘the elephant in the room..’.  You are seen as a negotiator, a fair player, a leader.

Next time you think you see the darkness of your actions rushing towards you, turn 180 degrees, take a deep breath, count to ten and smile.

It’s not what you said, it’s what they think they heard.