I do not know what its called

[CFRBryan347768]

But when you have to sit down and talk about a bad call, or one that was personal and stuff like that?

1.Are you forced to talk, as in if you dont talk about it is your job held against you?
2.What if you really have nothing to say?

 

[Sapphyre]

CISD? Supposedly, you don't have to talk, and the only time I've heard of a job being threatened is when someone doesn't get some sort of help and lets it eat them.

 

[Ridryder911]

There is a difference between "talking" or "venting" about a call with your partner, peers, and loved one and CISD.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) was and is a pseudopsychology method of many well intended but poorly educated responders believing that "talking" among peers in a group type sessions.

Although, it has been proven not to be effective and even possibly harmful in most cases, many EMS services still continue to promote this voodoo therapy. Although, most would never treat patients with documented harmful therapy, we for some reason continue to do so and even worse upon our own.

When one has been exposed to such severe tragedies, licensed and educated professional counselors that are specifically trained for those events.

Again, venting about calls is okay and encouraged, but when one has problems with a call or an event then a much more in-depth help is needed.

R/r911

 

[gcfd_rez31]

But when you have to sit down and talk about a bad call, or one that was personal and stuff like that?

debreafing??

 

[CFRBryan347768]

debreafing??

that would be the word i couldn't remember ha

 

[Ridryder911]

So what would debriefing consist of? Amazing, I have heard of the term for years but as of yet seen any "official" debriefing. Many of these so called "debriefing" usually falls under the CISD category, again one needs to review current thinking of such activity.

R/r 911

 

[aussieemt1980]

Here is something that I am passionate about and something that I do have knowledge of from an aussie perspective. Some years ago, in my dark deep past, I looked under the lounge, found god (he was hiding there the whole time) and became an ordained minister and a chaplain. I have also completed Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) training.

A CIS debrief, or diffusion, is intended to allow people to vent their thoughts and feelings before they have an opportunity to eat the person up and they lash out in a reaction. I do not see it as fair on an individual if they are dismissed from employment from not talking during a debrief or not attending one - it compounds the original problem as the individual then has thoughts of failure and leads the spiral into depression and further problems.

Recent research has indicated that a debrief or not does not make any difference in the development of PTSD - but attending a debrief may allow the early signs to be recognised.

If an individual is dismissed from employment for these reasons, here in Australia it can be considered unfair dismissal, as the employer caused the problem and has an obligation to rectify it.

In my experience, people react to the same situation differently.

A fatality may in one individual cause a reaction of feelings of failure (if i had just done a little bit more...), in another individual they may throw themselves into training (if I can learn from this, I can stop it from happening again), another individual may develop PTSD, another individual may turn to substances to cope. A person may say that they are fine at the debrief, and some time later it affects them. A person may not be affected.

A person may say that they are not affected and seek counselling later as they are uncomfortable sharing thoughts and feelings in a group situation, there are many reactions.

During CISM training, I was taught that not every person is going to open up and not to force them to if they dont want to. It is not conducive to the recovery process from CIS and may actually force an individual to relive an experience that they are not fully prepared to process at that instant and cause further psychological problems in reaction to the added stress.

Another thing to remember is that what is said should remain confidential. The purpose of the CIS debrief is not to pass blame, but for the individuals to understand what had happened, and if upper management are using the CIS debrief as a means of passing blame, the agencies CIS process should be looked at carefully and possibly passed to an outside agency for management.

If you are feeling the effects of CIS, then do seek counselling. I can honestly say that I have done it after attending a couple of fatalities where the patient has died during the rescue, and it has helped. Even if you sit down with your work mates and discuss what happened - many of us tend to do that with our partner on our way back to the station, so we are actually getting an informal difusion happening without even thinking about it - or seek out any peer support team members (if your agency has them) or even chaplains are good to turn to, and you dont have to be religious as the role of the chaplain is simply to listen and provide spiritual comfort - not tell you how God would have wanted you to do it.