CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS

MANAGEMENT

2

Common Causes of Stress

What is Critical Incident Stress? A normal reaction, by normal people, to an

abnormal event

3

Causes Death or serious injury of a person

Suicide or unexpected death

Multiple patient incident

Death of a child

Serious injury or death of the patient or bystander during the rescue

4

Causes – Cont’d Situations when there is personal identification

with the patient or the circumstances

Any incident that attracts media attention

When the signs, sounds and/or smell of the incident are so distressing as to produce a high level of immediate or delayed emotional reaction

5

Signs and Symptoms Physical:

Sudden fatigue Nausea or vomiting Shock-like symptoms Twitching or tremors

Thinking process: Memory loss Inability to clearly

identify things by proper terms

Confusion Impaired thinking Reduced attention

span

6

7

Signs and Symptoms May also experience

Irritability/Frustration Difficulty in concentrating/Sleeplessness Flashbacks/nightmares Displays of anger Extremely self-critical of personal skills and

questioning ability to provide help

8

Treatment The sooner an incident is discussed, the better Talk to a trusted Patroller Talk to those Patrollers involved Discuss each incident at “Boots Off” meeting Contact a CISM Team member

Do’s and Don'tsDo: Talk about it Maintain your routine Eat well Spend time relaxing and on hobbies Accept your symptoms are perfectly normal Connect with CISM team Learn more about delayed stress Expect the incident to upset you

9

Do’s and Don'tsDon’t: Avoid friends and family Avoid work Question your sanity Drink to excess Try to explain away the incident Expect immediate recovery Believe that you are the only one experiencing

symptoms Ignore the symptoms…they will not go away by

themselves

10

11

Interventions One-on-One Defusing Debriefing Follow-up

CONFIDENTIAL!!!

12

Critical Incident Stress Management is critical to the well-being and health of our CSPS team

Please do not hesitate to use it!

Relieve Your Stress!

13

Useful Resources

14

Critical Incident Stress Foundation

www.icisf.org

Association of Traumatic Stress

www.atss-hq.com