It may be surprising to learn that firefighting makes the top ten list of jobs that provides a good life/work balance. According to Glassdoor, a jobs and recruiting site, their 2014 report shows that firefighting ranks just under occupations like a group fitness instructor, user experience designer, and corporate communications as one of the jobs that provides the best work/life balance. By contrast, just one year later, firefighting doesn’t even make the top 25 Glassdoor occupations for work/life balance in 2015. The discrepancy from one year to the next may have something to do with the fact that firefighting does ...
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Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate The words ‘law enforcement officer’ and ‘addict’ seem opposed. Part of the tasks officers face is to stop the distribution and use of drugs. Many of the people they come to know daily are in the middle of one addiction or another. Just like the myth that addiction only strikes the down-and-out, it is a misconception that law enforcement officials are immune to becoming addicts. Moreover, while it is true that some choose to engage in illegal behavior, the majority come because of a work-related injury. With the physical nature of the job and risks of injury, ...
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Firefighter Stress: Manage It so It Doesn’t Manage You All firefighters can identify a reason that sparked their initial passion for becoming a firefighter—to serve their community, to save people, to work as part of a team, to become part of the station house brotherhood, or something else. That reason turns into a passion that supersedes any fear of danger or job-related stress. Firefighting: The Second Most Stressful Career When comparing vocations with the highest stress levels, those that top the list involve some kind of personal danger. CareerCast (The Most Stressful Jobs of 2016, n.d.) studied stress factors with regard ...
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Sleep Deprivation and Poor Diet are common throughout our society. For law enforcement officers, they can be extremely dangerous. Becoming a police officer is not for the faint of heart. Many hours of training are required and the learning curve is steep. Once in the position of a working officer, dealing with everyday issues and the constant stress can wear down even the most devoted employee. Being witness to violence and its aftermath on an everyday basis can shake even the most stalwart of people. But what about the aspects of work schedules and lifestyle habits? How do these factor ...
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