An inside look at Israeli police critical incident first responders

In this study 11 police first responders revealed during in-depth interviews their experience of managing critical incidents of terrorist attacks. On the way to the site, they reported getting ready, preparing for the worst and freezing all feelings to act as they were trained to do. Once on site they performed, in a robot-like manner, all operations needed to prevent further casualties and make the site safe for rescue vehicles. Once the dead and the wounded were safely evacuated they engaged in site reconstruction and allowed the public to return to their daily activities. On the way home they reported feelings of professional pride and sorrow over the dead and tried to defreeze their feelings by engaging in routine activities. Despite emotional numbing that was an integral part of their training, first responders revealed intense awareness and vivid traumatic memories of the scene which they seldom shared with family members or therapists. In this macho subculture treatment was rarely sought since it would entail stigmatisation and the preferred mode of relieving tension with the use of black humour with other team members. Most importantly, the bond uniting first responders, their feeling of being connected with something greater than themselves and to a calling from above were found essential components in their quest for meaning, coherence and purpose. These components allowed for the transformation of the intense memories of disaster and chaos into a source of resiliency and growth that strengthened their faith in their mission of saving lives.