Normal reactions to stress: Reactions to stress may be immediate or delayed. Immediate reactions among rescuers at the accident site—which are normal—include anxiety and apprehension, doubts about their abilities, or hopelessness and despair, which are often mixed with denial or “splitting.” Some rescuers experience cognitive difficulties, forgetting where they put things and finding decisions hard to make. “Rescuers in all types of incidents report nausea, a pounding sensation in their hearts, muscle tremors, cramps, profuse sweating, chills, headaches, and muffled hearing.”
