The Importance of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Diffusion in the Workplace
A critical incident is a traumatic incident in which the occurrence or threatened occurrence of death, serious injury, or significant threat to a person’s integrity impacts one person or a group of people. Actual physical harm is not necessary for individuals to experience significant stress from a critical incident. A critical incident stress debriefing and diffusion consist of a series of techniques used to help those exposed to traumatic events adjust to the physical and psychological aspects of the event in order to effectively process the event and its aftermath.
In view of contemporary world events and common threats in our immediate environment, it is vitally important for organizations to have easy access to experts that can quickly deliver a critical incident stress debriefing or diffusion.
Unfortunately, many organizations and businesses are not trained to manage the enormous challenges and liabilities inherent in ensuring that those exposed to trauma in the workplace are offered a critical incident stress debriefing or diffusion, in addition to other vital post-traumatic incident services.
A critical incident stress debriefing or diffusion program addresses extreme stress and trauma producing incidents and extreme stress and trauma reactions. Reactions from stress and trauma can vary, but may include shock, anger, extreme sadness, grief, moodiness, eating and sleeping disruptions, depression, muscle tremors, anxiety, nausea, paranoia, and sweating. While many health professionals admit that some of these types of reactions are normal for a person or group of individuals that have experience a critical incident, critical incident stress debriefing and diffusion attempts to minimize the intensity of immediate stress and trauma reactions, as well as limit reactions that occur within a certain period of time.
Several critical incident stress debriefing and diffusion methods are available in the marketplace. We recognize that many organizations have developed an internal critical incident stress debriefing or diffusion program. However, Cameron & Associates Employee Assistance Program has developed a flexible and comprehensive program that fully addresses the immediate needs of traumatized employees, assists them with the immediate aftereffects of the critical incident, educates them with information designed to assist the traumatized individual, friends, and family minimize the intensity of potential aftereffects, and provides continuity of care by offering referrals to counselors and post-critical incident stress debriefing or diffusion follow-up.
Please call us if you have any questions or would like any additional information about Cameron & Associates Employee Assistance Program’s Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Program.
Back to: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
|
