Sunday, September 9, 2012

Danger, Danger, Will Robinson...Continued

The next day, I had to process this whole thing in a team meeting.  My team was supportive, but they did ream me out about my decision to go “Lone Ranger”.  They talked about liability. (What would have happened if she had died in my car?)  They talked about risk-taking. (For heavens sake, there was medical help a few thousand feet away!) And they told me to NEVER again take a risk like that. They also helped me problem solve about alternatives. They were a great group of people. They were direct. Yet they were still very loving. And yes, I really needed to hear it. I was pleased about the outcome.  And so was everybody else.  The client was OK.  That was the bottom line no matter what else was said. But I had made a risky move and needed to look at it. My team recognized that, and lovingly helped me with it. It was not the first or last time they helped me out in that way. But it most certainly was one of the most helpful. It made me aware of a pattern of behavior that I needed to be aware of.
 
I requested (and got) a meeting with the director of my area about the situation.  But he wasn’t as ‘real’ about what I was telling him about the crisis team as I expected.  He minimized what had happened.  This was the beginning of the end of my time at this agency.  My trust in the agency was simply not there. Which indicated that I couldn't work in the dangerous type of situations that my work involved. If you don't trust that you have the backing of your peers (the crisis team) and your supervisory staff, you are not likely to be able to safely function in the job. So, I took the first job that someone offered me.  Given the number of incidents that I could tell you about during the time that I worked at that particular agency, it is incredible to me that I was only there eleven months. Obviously, even a crisis junkie like me has limits!

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