Anyone with reasonable sensibilities would have been horrified when news broke of a father, mother and their young child losing their lives in the waters off Shoreham Beach, while their surviving daughter remained in a critical state at hospital.

This marks the second occasion this year that several individuals have drowned in local waters, following the deaths of three people close to Brighton Marina in May. Such events bring immense grief to families, loved ones and those left to mourn.

I was equally stunned upon learning of the railway accident near Lewes, where fortunately no lives were lost. The human cost of these occurrences cannot be exaggerated, and those directly touched by them and their nearest and dearest will have their lives irrevocably altered. However, there exists another group who, to a lesser yet meaningful degree, experience psychological harm from such emergencies: blue light responders and medical professionals.

Though statistics may be debated, some sources indicate that an average person encounters three to four distressing events throughout their existence, whereas police officers face somewhere between four hundred and six hundred such incidents, with firefighters and ambulance crews experiencing one hundred to three hundred. This forms part of the profession they choose, and many, myself among them, entered for precisely this reason. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the effect of repeated exposure, nor does it prevent comparable situations from recurring. I am certain that modern policing’s approach to recognising and handling traumatic stress has advanced enormously since my early days. During the 1980s and 1990s, the sole support available was conversations over drinks in the station after a late shift.

Having already retired, I recall speaking with colleagues who attended the Shoreham aviation disaster eleven years prior on that Saturday. I could identify those struggling, those coping and those concealing the profound effect the tragedy had on them. I have complete confidence that personnel from the other emergency services and NHS workers were experiencing similar distress, yet continued working because that is their nature.

While nothing fully equips someone for severely distressing situations, the reality of emergency work is that crises arise without warning. As a police officer, you might be at your desk completing paperwork or getting ready to finish your shift when the radio suddenly requires your presence at a report of individuals in difficulty in the water, a train accident or comparable emergency. Though some training exists regarding how to approach such scenarios, the initial thought is what will I discover, followed by what will I do, and then the recognition that somehow you must manage whatever awaits, whether that involves numerous casualties or fatalities, hundreds of upset travellers or even violent resistance. I have faced my own distressing situations and my approach was to switch into operational mode and take necessary action to prevent the scenario worsening. A protective mechanism takes over, enabling the emergency responder to carry out their duties by suppressing excessive emotion, but difficulties arise when that barrier drops afterwards.

Not every profoundly distressing occurrence receives media coverage. During my tenure as Brighton’s divisional commander, a wandering canine attacked a person on the shoreline at approximately five in the morning. Due to the animal’s aggression, despite their attempts, officers could not approach safely. They found themselves completely unable to intervene as the dog continued its assault on the unfortunate victim until specialist help arrived. Officers are trained to resolve issues and prevent harm, yet in this circumstance they were rendered ineffective. Understanding their distress, I remained on duty until eleven at night, when they returned to their shifts. Those same officers about to venture onto the streets to handle whatever challenges Brighton and Hove presented that evening were virtually unresponsive. I did my utmost to comfort and support them, but it was Constable Pete Marshall who possessed the right words and rapport to restore them. Had he not succeeded, I question whether we could have deployed these officers to confront all the fresh difficulties awaiting them.

Those who work in emergency services must manage the most harrowing circumstances, and when we subsequently meet them, we have no conception of what they have endured, so please bear this in mind and show them understanding.

Graham Bartlett, who served as chief of Brighton and Hove Police, is the author of the Brighton-set Jo Howe crime series and provides consultancy to writers and television productions on realistic crime and policing narratives.