Be cautious about the use of absolutes such as Always and Never in training.
Instead of talking about what people will experience in a potentially life threatening event, talk about what they may experience. Yes, elevated heart rate and blood pressure and the release of adrenaline are almost always going to be part of the experience other elements such as time distortion, auditory exclusion, visual narrowing and distracting and intrusive thoughts vary greatly from person to person.
What an individual experiences and how they process the experience following the event will also vary from person to person.
Some officers are at peace following a deadly force encounter where they took the life of a violent subject knowing that the actions that took a life saved a life; their life, the life of another officer or the life of a citizen they have sworn to protect. Other officers are bothered to varying degrees as a result of that experience.
Teach people what they may experience, teach them strategies to deal with what they experience, teach them what resources are available to them following events and give them permission to seek help and utilize those resources if the event is troubling them.
Take care.
Brian Willis
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