What to do in the Post-Resuscitation

Inspired by my friend Mike Mallin, today I discuss the post-resuscitation. This squarely fits into the Mind of the Resuscitationist (MotR) series.

Parasympathetic Backlash

Follows the adrenaline dump. You are basically performing at a much lower level than normal.

The moment of greatest vulnerability is the instant immediately after victory.

~ Napoleon Bonaparte

We briefly touched on this concept in the On Combat bookclub.

...It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess that a soldier must pay a heavy physiological price for an enervating process this intense. The price that the body pays is an equally powerful backlash when the neglected demands of the parasympathetic system become ascendant. This parasympathetic backlash occurs as soon as the danger and the excitement are over, and it takes the form of an incredibly powerful weariness and sleepiness on the part of the soldier.

~ Grossman, On Combat

What to Do?

* Scene Check/360 degree sweep/Stabilization steps

* Eat

* Drink

* Change Clothes

* Nap?

Debrief

* Organized Debrief

* Need your input here

* Guilt Release

Process and Avoid Post-Traumatic Negatives

Go on the Couch

Cliff Reid's Couch

Visualization

Use the highest fidelity simulator, your brain, to replay, re-act, and improve

Meditation

Will discuss on an upcoming podcast

Gaming Processing and Recreation

Play Tetris or Mindcraft

[cite source='doi']10.1371/journal.pone.0004153[/cite], [cite source='doi']10.1177/0956797615583071[/cite]

Jane McGonigal's Ted Talk & her interview on Tim Ferriss' podcast. Read her book: SuperBetter.

What if you actually screwed up?

Jason Brooks-Come Help me...

Post-Traumatic Growth

Resilience may lead people to go down the path of Post Traumatic Growth rather than PTSD