What is a Critical Incident?
A Critical Incident is any actual or alleged traumatic event or situation that creates a significant risk of substantial harm to the physical or mental health, safety or well being of an employee.
This is where critical incident management comes in. A critical incident management definition is where you help those affected by critical incidents or ensure that they don’t become victims of one.
Specifically, there is a form which helps deal with the emotional sides of a critical incident. Here we can help you with this with critical incident management plan tailored towards this.
What is CISM?
Critical Incident Stress Management otherwise known as CISM is designed to help people deal with their trauma one incident at a time, by allowing them to talk about the incident when it happens without judgment or criticism. First developed for use with military combat veterans and then civilian first responders (police, fire, ambulance, emergency workers and disaster rescuers), it has now been adapted and used virtually everywhere there is a need to address traumatic impact in people's lives.
Health Assured can offer a range of CISM support services, including crisis intervention, and post-incident support.
We have a robust process in place to manage high-risk traumatic situations and critical incidents, and day-to-day unexpected incidents, that is supported by an experienced UK and international network of specialist CISM personnel.
Benefits of Critical Incident Stress Management
We recognise the impacts of critical incidents on employees’ levels of distress and the impacts that it may have on being able to perform their role effectively or attend work.
We design our corporate wellness services to enhance employees’ natural resilience and provide specialist support to minimise effects of trauma and promote wellbeing and recovery. It is a system of support that is meant to do the following:
- Lessen the impact of the critical incident
- Normalise instinctive reactions to the incident
- Encourage the natural recovery process
- Restore the adaptive functioning skills of the person and/or group
- Determine the need for further supportive services or therapy
Types of CISM
When developing a critical incident stress management plan, there are several types of CISM that can we can deploy, either together or individually.
Debriefing is a proactive intervention involving a group meeting or discussion about a particularly distressing critical incident. We know this as critical incident stress debriefing (CISD.)
Grief and Loss Sessions: are a structured group or individual session following a death and assists people in understanding their own grief reactions as well as creating a healthy atmosphere of openness and dialogue.
Crisis Management Briefings: are large group interventions used before, during and after a crisis.
24/7 Telephone Support
As part of our standard telephonic EAP services, we offer immediate critical incident support via our trained in-house trauma practitioners. Managers with the authority to invoke critical incident support can access telephone support for immediate advice and recommendations regarding appropriate actions to support those affected.
Aftercare
Contact us today
Find out more about our Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) services.
Contact Health Assured today on 0800 206 2552 or request a callback using the link below.
Backed by brands that trust us
Welsh Ambulance NHS Service Trust has used Health Assured as it’s EAP for the past 2 years and the service has been extremely well received by our staff. We were given support from day 1 with communications, leaflets, manager guides to promote the service which has been very helpful.
Ceri Bryant |Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service Manager