Theraputic Avenues for First Responders
Police Officer’s and many other first responders have experienced trauma in many different ways. The job entails not knowing what you are going to be experiencing on the other side of the call. Many first responders hear that there is an accident that they have to respond to but they don’t know that the accident could be fatal. Unfortunately, they are here to work for the community and with the community, so they can’t just turn their eyes when going to the scene of a fatal accident. They actually have to take it a step further and assess the situation and make sure everything and everyone is safe before proceeding on with their investigation. Accidents and other different traumatic events can take a toll on officers and many other first responders like fire fighters, and EMT’s. One of the solutions to this problem of dealing with traumatic situations is having therapy or (Critical Incident Stress Management) ready for the first responders when they get back to their station after their hard work out in the field. CISM offers meetings and privacy when talking about tough situations like the ones mentioned above.
“Police service is an inherently stressful occupation, which often results in both physical (e.g., cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal problems) and psychological symptoms (increased depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder; e.g.,” (Berg et al., 2006). Members of the community don’t usually understand the traumatic events police officers and other first responders go through day in and day out. After responding to the scene of an accident, many of them feel they need to stand tall and not worry about what they might have just experienced at the scene. They try to bottle it up inside themselves and they can’t let anyone know that they are weak or can’t perform the duties of their job due to their weakness of seeing someone that has been deceased due to an accident or a harmful act from another’s actions.
CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) is a form of therapy for first responders and anyone who has experienced a traumatic event. An example of a critical incident is as follows “Critical incidents often include a component of life threat and may range from being threatened (e.g., with a knife or gun) to direct exposure and/or injury (e.g., accidental or intentional)” (Maguen et. al, 2009). CISM provides strategies to cope with these stressors. “The critical incident stress management strategies are very effective at lessening the burden on the officers, relieving some of the tension that they’re feeling, and giving them some strategies and coping mechanisms that are healthy” (Abbott). In this case, we are talking about first responders and their trauma coming from a scene where there has been a death. CISM has two ways of bringing in the first responders to therapy. One of the ways is diffusing, which is a meeting that takes place with a therapist or mental health clinician right after they return to the station. This meeting will consist of having all responders to the call that was traumatic sit down and talk about what happened, what were some of the worst things that occurred at the call, etc. Basically, it is a chatting session to get the first responders to express how they are feeling and get some info off of their chest at the time after the call. The next part of the CISM strategy is debriefing. The Debriefing period happens a couple weeks after the incident. This is basically a follow-up period where the same group of first responders sits down and talks about what happened and what they have done to get their minds back on track. This is also a point in time when the therapist or the mental health clinician can help them to further their therapy if they need it. They will be able to provide different resources to benefit their well being and help them to get back on their feet. Having this program will help the officers and other first responders cope with the trauma they have been dealing with and make sure that they know they aren’t alone in this situation, they are always going to have someone that will have their back in making sure they have anything and everything they need.
Some of the fears that officers and other first responders have are losing their job, being reassigned, or having their licenses taken away which would prevent them from being able to complete their duties. In this case, police officers could lose their job, get reassigned to admin duties until they are back on their feet, or lose their license to carry a firearm within their department and state. All of these factors can lead to someone becoming depressed, which can then lead them to feel weak. They can prevent these types of things from happening if they get the help they need at the time when they need it the most.
I feel that all police and fire departments should have a mental health clinician on hand when there are traumatic events going on within the sector that the officers and firefighters are patrolling. Many police departments are now starting to hire mental health clinicians to help with the public needs and deal with many different mental health situations that police departments deal with on a daily basis. Along with the clinicians, I feel that CISM and CISD should be incorporated to make sure that first responders are getting the attention they need when they return from the scene. This is important for their well being and for their mental state of mind after experiencing tragic and traumatic events such as death.
References:
Berg AM, Hem E, Lau B, Ekeberg Ø. An exploration of job stress and health in the Norwegian police service: A cross sectional study. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2006; 1:26. Available at: http://www.occup-med.com/content/1/1/26. [PubMed: 17156489]
Maguen, Metzler, T. J., Mccaslin, S. E., Inslicht, S. S., Henn-Haase, C., Neylan, T. C., & Marmar, C. R. (2009). Routine work environment stress and PTSD symptoms in police officers. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197(10), 754–760.
(n.d.). Two Primary CISM Strategies.