I only have a couple of problems with age as it relates to being a PSD .
First off is being mentally stable enough to do the job. Some people, and age has no bearing here, can handle death while others can not. Now take that death and put in into conditions that are not at all natural and the problems are compounded. Now dealing with that death, for the most part, might best be done by someone that is a little more mature than a teenager.
When youre in recovery mode and the victim is dead, very few people actually handle the body. It is quite a different action when that person Might be alive. The one person that does the most handling is the PSD. The way the body is handled is about the same as climbing into bed with the person as your going to be side by side with them. You are up close and personal for a while like nobody else is going to be. At the very least body fluids will be leaking and guess who gets in them? Not the people topside as they will be insulated from them, its the PSD and that can be a mental trip.
Insurance is another problem. Some might be covered under a family medical policy. But how good is that policy going to be if they have to pay out with activity like being involved with PSD?
Training is another story. Its hard enough to get proper certifications as an adult let alone being a teenager, but if you can get the training go for it.
Last on this short list attitude. Sometimes kids can develop a big one. But then again so can adults. This is a nasty, serious, dangerous business where a poor attitude does not belong. What it says in the book is not necessarily what will happen so get rid of the Book Says So attitude because it is just a guideline.
My first recovery was at 19 years old. To compound that we were in some very nasty oil covered surface conditions and it was a kid I worked and went out drinking with. Yes it changed my life.
If you have a good attitude and are not a chest beating brat, go for it and welcome aboard.
Gary D.
First off is being mentally stable enough to do the job. Some people, and age has no bearing here, can handle death while others can not. Now take that death and put in into conditions that are not at all natural and the problems are compounded. Now dealing with that death, for the most part, might best be done by someone that is a little more mature than a teenager.
When youre in recovery mode and the victim is dead, very few people actually handle the body. It is quite a different action when that person Might be alive. The one person that does the most handling is the PSD. The way the body is handled is about the same as climbing into bed with the person as your going to be side by side with them. You are up close and personal for a while like nobody else is going to be. At the very least body fluids will be leaking and guess who gets in them? Not the people topside as they will be insulated from them, its the PSD and that can be a mental trip.
Insurance is another problem. Some might be covered under a family medical policy. But how good is that policy going to be if they have to pay out with activity like being involved with PSD?
Training is another story. Its hard enough to get proper certifications as an adult let alone being a teenager, but if you can get the training go for it.
Last on this short list attitude. Sometimes kids can develop a big one. But then again so can adults. This is a nasty, serious, dangerous business where a poor attitude does not belong. What it says in the book is not necessarily what will happen so get rid of the Book Says So attitude because it is just a guideline.
My first recovery was at 19 years old. To compound that we were in some very nasty oil covered surface conditions and it was a kid I worked and went out drinking with. Yes it changed my life.
If you have a good attitude and are not a chest beating brat, go for it and welcome aboard.
Gary D.