“Overcoming The Overwhelming” is an introductory human factors course with a focus on critical incident stress management at a provider level. This four-hour workshop is designed to introduce the scope of human factors in relation to EMS and incident response, performance optimization, stress mitigation, and the development of stress-related psychological injuries.

Learning Objectives:
Understand what critical incident stress is, and how it is developed and its effect on performance and mental health. (high threat assessment combined with heightened sympathetic nervous system).
Utilize strategies for lowering threat assessment including perception management, increasing confidence without inflating ego, and evaluating cognition capability
Implement practices to lower the sympathetic nervous system response, reduce stress, and improve performance.