No matter how experienced the officer is or how callous he or she may think they are, there are incidents they may experience or witness that will affect us emotionally. Certain incidents will affect us all. Normal reactions are to set aside these emotions and hide them as best as possible.  After all that is what we were trained to do to set aside our feelings and deal with the situation. Sometimes our jobs and even our survival demands it. And we usually lock it away somewhere to forget it. Problem is it isn't forgot or locked away either consciously or sub-consciousl;y after al it has been recorded with us.
Making things worse, it is usually unacceptable for police officers to show those emotionswe feel about hose incidents. It's a sign of weakness when we have been trained to be so strong under all circumstances. To show weakness is too experience a loss of control and we are trained and programmed not too lose control under any circumstances. Unfrortunately no one wants too talk about the possibility of a critical incident affecting thier officers. But the fact of th matter is it does, failure to train officers about post traumatic stress, how to prepare for it, how to recognize it, and how to deal with it once it has happened,  is pure negligence. It is out there and needs to be talked about and prepared for.
physical signs:

• fatigue, nausea, twitches, muscle tremors, thirst, vomiting, chills, dizziness, grinding your teeth, fainting, profuse sweating, rapid heart rate, elevated blood pressure,
• if you experience these signs seek medical attentiion
• chest pain, difficulty breathing, shock symptoms

Cognitive signs:
• blaming someone, confusion, poor attention, poor decisions, memory problems, nightmares, higher or lower alertness, loss of time, place, people orientation; disturbed thinking, intrusive images (flashbacks)

emotional signs:
• anxiety, guilt, grief, denial, fear, uncertainty, depression, agitation, loss of emotion control, apprehension, intense anger,feeling overwhelmed, innapropriate emotional response, irritability

behavioral signs:
• change in activity, change in speech pattern, emotional outbursts, pacing, loss of appetite, alcohol consumption, inability to rest, antisocial acts, erratic movements, nonspecific body complaints, hyper alert, change in sexual function.

Things to do within the first 48 hours of a critical incident that will help alleviate some of the stress:

• physical excersise alternated with relaxation will alleviate some of the physical reactions
• structure your time- keep busy
• you're normal and having normal reactions - don't labe yourself crazy.
• talk to people - talk is the most healing medicene
• be aware of the numbing pain with overuse of drugs and alcohol, YOU DON'T NEED TO OMPLICATE THE PROBLEM.

Things to do to take care of yourself:
• Eat well balanced meals
• Eat regular meals
• AVOID NUMBING THE PAIN WITH ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
• Reach out- people do care
• Maintain your normal schedule
• Help your co-workers by sharing your feelings
• Don't make big life changes
• Give yourself permission to feel rotten
• Make as many daily decisions as possible to maintain control of your life
• YOU'RE NORMAL AND HAVING NORMAL REACTIONS
• Get plenty of rest
• Dreams thoughts and flashbacks are normal
• spend time with others
• Attend a debriefing