Iām in a similar position to you. Iām a police officer but luckily for the last few years have done secondments and/or office based work where being dizzy etc is not hazardous (worst I could do would be a paper cut). I have been on restricted duties due to the vertigo. To be operationally ready we have to do a live fire shoot each year. Having a lurch or a stumble on the range is not a good look. For us there is definitely a stigma to being ārestrictedā and HR can be very demanding and bureaucratic. Iāll have to do a shoot soon. Bit nervous. Iām not a very good shot anywayā¦ :lol:
A few years ago, when operational, I did get a nasty migraine (with aura) - on night shift, during a violent electrical storm at a fatal car accident. The worst of the migraine was over until I started doing CPR on the passenger (hard work!) and then the aura came back. After a couple of hours of the clean up (rescue trucks, ambos etc) my partner and I were about to leave and again, the worst of the migraine was over. Then it turned out we had a flat battery and I had to push start the truck. Guess what - migraine came back. Argh!
I guess my message is that if I have to I CAN do stuff. I am nervous about the prospect of doing full operational duties again because of the night work etc which can make things worse, but I donāt want the freaking migraine to rule my life.
Scott - thanks for that! Itās good to know she got there and heres hoping that I do to (I love being a firefighter - see below!!)
Victoria - you have my dream job! I always wanted to be a police officer (must have rang the wrong number!!!) My friends daughter is just going throught the training at LAPD.
I think I could cope with operational stuff, but itās more the fear of having a dizzy when youāre in a burning house trying to save someone or like you doing CPR - I wouldnāt want to be responsilbe for someone losing their life or putting colleagues in danger if they have to rescue me. When I feel ok (on the odd day!) I do laugh thinking if I had a dizzy in a smoke filled house thereās no way iād find my way back out!!!
Fortunately, I am feeling alot better in the last month and it has really reduced my anxiety, so its made me feel that sometime in the (near??) future Iāll have dealt with this āblipā and have my life back - although maybe a different life than before.
Take care all xx
I remember going to a Heart Start class and having to do CPR on a dummy. I was particularly dizzy that day and we were meant to bend over on the floor to do it. I couldnt and asked if the dummy could be put up on the table. Can you imagine this in real life :lol:
When I was at school we did it on a dummy and I remember bending the head back to do mouth to mouth and the head fell off!
Yeah, in āreal lifeā thereās not much opportunity to move someone who needs CPR - clambering through the twisted wreck of a car with one of your legs on the dashboard and the other on the gear stick is more likely! It is funny though practising on the dummy. āUmm, youāve actually just broken the dummyās neck. Want to try again?ā The blood sugar thing though, that is manageable. I always took food with me in the police truck. Sandwiches, museli bars etc. Not joking. Always got weird looks from my offsiders tucking into a sandwich at 3am driving urgent duty to a job - except for one guy. His wife had the same issue so he totally got it.
Tracey - stick with being a fire fighter - much better than police officer. People love firies. You rescue people from burning buildings, cats from trees, put out house fires etc. You are the good guys! And the male firies are always handsome. Even if theyāre not, they are when they put on the uniform . Police officers? People hate us. We give them speeding tickets, enforce laws they donāt like, donāt arrive quickly enough to take their report, wonāt lock up their noisy neighbour, are too heavy handed, not heavy handed enough, the uniforms are too āthreateningā blah blah blah. Amazing how many people are armchair experts on policing. So helpful to hear their thoughts! Tracey donāt worry about getting the dizzies in a burning house - just blame it on the smoke!
. Police officers? People hate us. We give them speeding tickets, enforce laws they donāt like, donāt arrive quickly enough to take their report, wonāt lock up their noisy neighbour, are too heavy handed, not heavy handed enough, the uniforms are too āthreateningā blah blah blah. Amazing how many people are armchair experts on policing. So helpful to hear their thoughts! Tracey donāt worry about getting the dizzies in a burning house - just blame it on the smoke!