Called out to breaking incidents, confronting dangerous criminals, being the voice of calm and reassurance to victims – this is just a flavour of what Lincolnshire Police's Response Officers do.

And this week (15th – 21st March), their hard work and dedication is being recognised as part of the national Response Policing Wellbeing and Recognition 'Week of Action' initiative led by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).

Officers with Lincolnshire Police have spoken about the toughest parts of their job, the emotional impact it takes.

Sergeant Pete Andrews has been in policing for 20 years. The 46-year-old, who works in the Sleaford area, has worked almost exclusively in the response unit during his two-decade career and has seen fatal crashes, domestic abuse cases and even suicides. He says it is a tough but rewarding job.

"There's days where you do a 10-hour shift, go home, immediately get called out, get back home at midnight and then wake up to start work again at 5am," he said. "You cannot just forget about a death, a double fatal or a suicide – some days you might have to deal with all three.

"You sacrifice a bit of yourself to keep people safe - I'd liken it to being a soldier. Working at the police is a fantastic job, but behind the uniform we are just people.

"We are the first line of defence and if we don't do our job properly in terms of dealing with the incident and gathering evidence, other teams can't do their job, so it's very important."

Response staff are often the first on the scene working with colleagues at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and the East Midlands Ambulance.

Response Sergeant Marc Fowler has been working at the sharp end of crime in the county for the last six years, and on one harrowing call-out, he could have been set on fire.

"We went out to a report of the domestic disturbance and when we arrived, we were told that the male involved might hurt himself," he said. "We eventually tracked him down and when we found him, he pulled out a petrol bomb, he poured petrol over himself and splashed officers with it.

"He then pulled a lighter out of his pocket and started to try and light it. At the time you deal with it, it's just your job – and the longer you do it, the more accustomed to these types of situations you become. But there is a mental aspect to it, and it does have an impact on people.

"Without response going out to these incidents the streets would be anarchy."

But while some people do give response officers a hard time, most of the public are supportive and, in many cases, help the police catch criminals. In some cases, officers have had thank you cards on their windscreens and their efforts praised on social media.

Inspector Adrian Wootton, who helps manage the response in Lincolnshire, said that officers' wellbeing is important and has called on the public to help where they can.

He said: "I think we do what we can do and are really good at looking after staff with the resources we've got. We can have a road rage, fatal crash and stabbing come in, in 10 minutes. I measure response policing as a dripping tap that never stops.

"We routinely call officers at home to support their welfare, which is something we didn't do five years ago – it's about making sure we understand their human needs.

"We are doing our best and are always striving to do better. If you're a member of the public, ask questions of us, draw attention to things, tell us about the positives and negatives, etc. If you see something, report it.

"Despite difficult shift patterns, you'll still see police out in the middle of nowhere at 4am. We do everything we can."

As well as highlighting their efforts, the week is also aimed at making officers aware of the resources available to them which could help to address important issues such as fatigue and resilience.

The NPCC has worked with Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), the College of Policing and the Police Federation, to deliver a range of wellbeing and resilience initiatives, co-ordinated specifically for response officers' needs.

Resources include webinars around sleep, fatigue and resilience and toolkits for self-care and compassion, and an interactive Twitter chat with NPCC Wellbeing Lead Chief Constable Andy Rhodes and Response Policing Lead DCC Serena Kennedy.