Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2020 27 CoVid-19 professionals, and their support staff are all serving selflessly at the frontlines of our health care system. Other key public ser- vice and security institutions are on point and are serving at our borders, in immigra- tion, in first responders, in police services, in transportation, in our Armed Forces at home and abroad, in employment insur- ance, in taxation, in non-profits, and so many more. An overwhelming majority of Canadians trust them. Many are com- mitted to supporting and enabling these institutions in new ways so that they may continue to serve others. Businesses are adapting and pivoting from business as usual to emergency sup- port, community support, and enabling health care teams, first responders, essen- tial services, and people in need. We as citizens are seeing and recognizing com- mercial and public services as a new front- line serving Canada and Canadians. And we are showing our gratitude to them. Citizens are responding by conforming with public health and safety guidelines, and by going beyond in caring for family and neighbours. My point is, those we rely on are being clear-eyed about the real and emerging situation. They are being clear-minded in their decisions and actions. They are being compassionate and empathetic to others. These are the reasons why I feel strongly about us getting through this together. Now back to answering the open- ing question. How do military folks get through conflicts and crises? In normal times, we as citizens and as a society enjoy a relatively high level of secu- rity and stability. Life comes with a good sense of predictability. We live life with a sense of natural rhythm – in personal life, family life, community life, and at work. In this pandemic every part of life has been disrupted. Any sense of a natural rhythm has been completely disturbed. It's like being a part of our military, liv- ing and working with a normal rhythm of training and preparation at home to being thrust into a combat zone, facing an en- emy in an overseas operation. We go from an environment we create and control to one we cannot. The operational environ- ment is entirely unpredictable but we cre- ate predictability in that environment by establishing a new rhythm for how we live, endure, and prevail together. We adopt and practice a daily and weekly rhythm that is tailored for our mission, our team, and our environment. We in the military call this "Battle Rhythm". In battle rhythm, as we face emergencies and crises, plan and execute combat mis- sions and tasks, respond to and care for ca- sualties, and seek to protect our teams, we set aside time and take the time to make certain things part of our routine. Key amongst them are these: • To get updates on the facts of the current and emerging situation around us – sort of like catching up on the weather, the news, and our neighborhood. • To connect with our mission partners to ensure we are tracking together how our mission is going. We can choose to adjust and adapt based on what we discover to- gether. • To check on the health and well-being of our team and teammates. From lead- ership by walkabouts to lessons learned, from buddy check to peer support. • We check in with family and friends and we plan our time to be with them again. We make sure that when we return to them, we step out of the mission to be fully with them. When with them we seek to leave our work behind. • We check in with ourselves – physically, emotionally, spiritually. Imagine being in the middle of a combat zone and go- ing for a jog in a desert environment, in 40-degree weather, inside a fortified for- ward operating base, while other mem- bers in your force are in close battle just kilometres away. We take time for our- selves. These are unprecedented and extraordi- nary times. Globally and across Canada, in our work, in our teams, with our families, and even within ourselves, a normal rhythm may not suit many of us. If that's true, then I suggest we each consider establishing a new personal and work battle rhythm, one We adopt and practice a daily and weekly rhythm that is tailored for our mission, our team, and our environment. We in the military call this "Battle Rhythm". The environment is not the same today. But we did prevail then, and we can and will do it again now. There are several rea- sons why I believe this to be true. We are being kept informed of the facts, and they are being interpreted and shared with us by experts. Political and civil leaders are listening to those facts and soliciting ex- pert advice. They are making public health, public safety, and policy decisions and com- municating them to us based on facts at the forefront. And they are compassionate and demonstrably empathic in communicating decisions to keep us safe and to mitigate the effects on lives and livelihoods. Health service institutions, health care Operation LASER Montreal First Response 10. Photo: DND

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