Stress Coping Strategies for Commercial Flight Crewmembers Paper Review
Stress Coping Strategies for Commercial Flight Crewmembers Paper Review
1. The essence of KOBASA model is to show that the body should always be physically fit in order to overcome stress. In KOBASA model, the constitutional predisposition is our own well being, once a person encountered stressful life situation he tends to be at risk of several health problems and that referred to as the strain. Experiencing strain would entails illness and the body’s ability to cope up with the stressful situation will decrease. What the model is trying to convey is that people has to learn the ways of personality hardness together with social support to avoid strain. By doing so the arc will stop eventually transformational coping, which will block people from strain. What the KOBASA model wants to imply is the idea that stress and strain can be avoided if people will learn how to keep themselves fit. Exercise is one of the key elements to achieve this objective because research has identified the benefits of constant exercise. It will give us enough strength to fight strain and overcome the effects of stress.
2. The concept of hardening is to develop resistance to stress. When person faces difficulties he tend to react to stressor depending on how tough the person is in managing stress at hand will predict his future in terms of lifespan. A person who went through stress in life and was able to win against it was actually able to strengthen his disposition which will make him stronger to face future stress.
3. In considering the biology of stress, people have to look out for key elements which ill determine response to fight or flight situation. Blood pressure, stomach acidity, increased heart rate and unclear thinking all of them are results of chemical activities in the body that are triggered by fight or flight response.
4. Stress in the work place does not only affect the quality of work individuals deliver to fulfill their jobs. However, the Holistic Stress Management model offers a simple to follow instructions to reduce stress at a maximum. It involves the three major elements which are the mind, body and soul. In holistic approach people undergo a vital selection of what to eat, drink, what to think about and emotional control, in general it is about the overall well being (Seaward, Brian Luke 2012).
5. CRITICAL INCIDENT RESPONSE PROGRAM is crucial therefore, it is very much appropriate. Several airline crew and pilots experience traumatic events and without such program would make it difficult for them to cope up with post-traumatic stress.
6. Stress in work environment is very much a part of everyday work experience. On a personal, the way I deal with stress is to, stop working for five minutes, contemplate on the things that stress me the most and confront the situation. If its work related, thought organization is important to clear out the mind or divert y attention to something else. Drink a glass of water and real a couple of funny lines I could find over the internet and then go back to what I was doing. Of course, I have to do it unnoticed otherwise I might be accused of slacking.
7. In a working environment the type of stress that I usually deal with is difficult clients and deadlines. Time restraint delivers the most stress because your running against time and failure to meet the deadline means more stress coming from my boss. What’s worst is if my work concerns life and death situation for the company I might be first one to be asked to go packing down the road.
8. CRM or Crew Resource Management has been around for two decades now. It helped the aviation industry to manage and train their people to be equipped with essential skills, knowledge and attitudes. Basically it is the core modeling instrument they use to shape their crew to become the best aviation professionals in the business. Given all the benefits that CRM can deliver it is still important to integrate stress coping strategies to their CRM syllabus in order to produce a more efficient and psychologically competent crew. Because no matter how the crews have mastered their own skills it would still mean nothing if they are not well prepared to face stressful situations in their chose field. If the crews are not ready to face stress, they may breakdown easily on the slightest spark of a negative situation, because one thing that airline crew has to eliminate from their vocabulary is the word “panic”.
9. The difference in aerobic exercise is we do not normally exhaust ourselves too much in terms of breathing, things like, cycling, swimming and walking only takes about 70% of the maximum breathing rate. While anaerobic requires a much stronger stamina, it involves weight lifting and other extreme activities that will push to challenge your cardiovascular strength. This is he kind of exercise that will literally leave you catching your breath because of excessive efforts and such kind of exercise will eventually call for a well-defined amount of rest.
10. Two accidents involving airline crews in the past is a proof that stress can easily deteriorate one’s concentration. On once instance crew members were so pre-occupied by a landing gear problem which turns out to be minor and forgot to fly the plane as a result 99 people are dead on the crash. The other one is in 1977 when the captain went to fly the plane while enduring personal stress as a result 583 people died in the collision with another Boeing 747.
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References
Seaward, Brian Luke PHD (2012) Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Wellbeing 7th Ed. Burlington, MA, USA Jones and Bartlett Learning LLC.
