Cops, Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers. Pretty hard core group, right?

They are expected to have feelings like the Kevlar or turnouts they wear: rough, tough, and virtually indestructible. After all, they're supposed to be complete and total badasses, right? Fighting fire, dodging bullets, and patching up multi-systems trauma isn't exactly for the faint of heart. They're not weak people, and they had better never appear that way to the public-and ESPECIALLY not to one another.

The patrol room isn't exactly a place that is historically known for cops sitting down and sharing their feelings, nor is the firehouse or the ambulance. And according to most first responders, they don't need to share their feelings.....because to do so would be to show weakness, and in their minds that would make them a failure.

But I ask YOU, the responder.....where do you put all of your stress? Where does your adrenaline go when the hot call is over? Are you able to leave it at work? Do you take off the job with your uniform when you go home to your families? Or is it festering like a sore, back there in the back of your mind?