In this time of crisis we might just need a helping hand from a colleague who understands and knows.
The frontline is long and hard. There will be a moment when we all need a Buddy. There will be a moment when we will be asked to be a Buddy for somebody else.
We know who we are.
We know who we are. Our hospitals are frontline. Our Ambulances, Police and Fire Brigade are Frontline. There are many other key workers and Social Workers. Care Homes staff making difficult decisions about the lives of our elders. Pharmacists providing the medicines we need to stay well.
Embrace the mindset.
There are many working overtime to make the right thing happen. The Invisible key workers. The engineers building ventilators and the people making the masks. The coroners and the undertakers putting our loved ones to rest. The delivery drivers providing our essential supplies.
The therapy services and the bereavement counsellors helping us stay in tune. Teachers and carers looking after the ones we love. We are all in this together for the duration. The principles of FrontlineBuddy can help us all.
This situation has happened not because of you.
The situations that we find ourselves in are due to the complexity of the world and most often not our making. We do not choose to create disaster or mass problems they happen because of powers well beyond our control.
You have chosen to help.
The thing that brings you to the frontline is your drive to help. Even in adverse circumstances. You have chosen and been selected to make a difference however small. It is within your ability to try and help people survive or to help them die well. That may not always not be able to happen but you will try.
You can be better for it.
We know that what is the hard path is sometimes actually good for us. There are real risks, to ourselves and our loved ones and we have tried to balance these risks. We also know what we would feel like if we had chosen not to be involved. It is going to be a hard and rocky path though we have taken hard paths before and we have grown.
We are all in it together.
As frontline workers we have all trained and worked together. We have weathered the storms. There is trust and support in sharing a story with a listening ear. Let’s weather this storm together. Let’s share our learning with those working hard around us.
Consultant to Consultant. Trainee to trainee. There are many who are volunteers working beside us. There are many that are in trusted roles that have never seen a naked body let alone experienced death. We can support each other through this crisis. In this country and the next.
Our leaders lead by example and help teams talk. It is not about right or wrong. It is about learning.
Read Buddy Model.
