Florianis in shock

When operations cross the psychological boundary

It must be a horror to have to deal with such facts as a firefighter.

(Bild: Thomas Lenger/Monatsrevue)

In the name of volunteering, firefighters often have to experience shocking things that they will never forget for the rest of their lives. Three warhorses talk about their worst missions and how they were helped.

No one can learn this routine: being called to an operation; doing your job without feeling, like a robot; driving home; going to sleep with the motto: another couple of dead people, so what?

Will we still be in time? Or are we too late?

(Bild: Matthias Lauber/laumat.at/laumat)

As the testimonials of three experienced firefighters (see below) prove, firefighters often go beyond their mental limits. The SVE service was set up to prevent post-traumatic stress after particularly bad experiences. SVE stands for "stress management after a stressful deployment".