An Cosantóir June 2020 www.dfmagazine.ie
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BY COMDT (RET'D) DECLAN DALY
PHOTO'S BY PTE LUKASZ GANCARZ & DF FLICKR
STRESSORS ASSOCIATED WITH EAS
On EAS, you are going to come across things that are outside the experience of most people
and which can very easily be described as traumatic. For the most part, you will get used to it,
to a point of being very blasé about other peoples' problems, but the truth is, everyone is hu-
man and from time to time some crewmembers will need a bit of help. Presented by person-
nel from PSS, during this training, students are given a detailed brief on the kind of stress reac-
tions that are common in this line of work and what help is available to them if they feel they
need it. This help is offered anonymously and is as much a part of looking after your overall
health as reporting sick with a physical injury. Also covered are Critical Incident Stress Debrief-
ings. These are compulsory events whereby a crew is debriefed by PSS or a Unit facilitator
after an incident that has been deemed serious enough to warrant it. These are not common
but can be initiated by the aircraft commander or another person higher up the chain of com-
mand if they feel it is warranted.
What are the stressors associated with EAS? I can see a few, both by looking at the data and
from anecdotal experience:
1. PILOT SHORTAGES
It's not controversial to say that at the moment we are low on people. In terms of pilots num-
bers – specifically we have about half of the authorised establishment figures and the autho-
rised establishment – the amount of people we are allowed to have in the unit by law - does
not account for EAS, as it was determined before EAS existed. The numbers are especially low
at Capt/Lt and Airman levels where the people leaving plus small class sizes during the reces-
sion have had a real detrimental impact in terms of numbers. In addition, and in contrast to
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