The Role of CISD in Post Critical Incident Trauma Reduction (Research Paper Sample)

The Role of CISD in Post Critical Incident Trauma Reduction
Student’s Name:
School Affiliation:
Abstract
Trauma is a possibility every emergency worker faces each day owing to the nature of their work. Often, these First Responders tend to be forgotten by caregivers especially when an incident is intense. However, with proper interventions such as the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) the trauma faced by emergency workers could be mitigated and the repercussions reduced significantly. This paper has analyzed the role played by CISD in the Post Critical Incident Trauma (PCIT) reduction.
Humans are faced with the possibility of experiencing disasters at the most unexpected time and place. Distressing incidents tend to occur when one is least prepared psychologically, and the aftermath is pretty disturbing. Because of the impact of some incidents, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is inevitable. However, if the patients or the First Responders (FRs) are attended to immediately, Post Critical Incident Trauma (PCIT) could be reduced significantly. While the victims of a particular incident have their share of mental anguish, the FRs suffer the most when no immediate attention is accorded. This paper will analyze the role of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) on the First Responders.
Many times the FRs suffer more than even the patients they seek to rescue from a distressing incident. The reason for this norm is that medics and other caregivers focus first on the victims, and seldom attend to FRs unless physically injured. Unbeknown to many is that while many FRs might not have any physical wound, there are psychological problems to deal with after the incident. Wilkins (2008) noted that firefighters, police officers, Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) and others all undergo insurmountable mental discomfort once the incident is over especially when CISD is not offered. Conversely, the level of PCIT has been found to be pretty low in some of the FRs who receive the CISD (Powers, 2015).
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) refers to a common technique designed specifically to help victims of an incident who exhibit symptoms likely to lead to trauma. Typically, CISD is conducted within 72 hours of the incidents and aims at comforting the affected person to view their feelings as normal (Blacklock, 2012). If delayed past 72 hours, CISD becomes less effective, and it has been recommended that the affected individuals ought to receive the care within 24 hours for optimal results (Wilkins, 2008). Therefore, the first role of CISD is to prevent the inevitable trauma that emergency workers face in their work.
For many FRs, the risks that accompany their job often lead to PTSD mainly because there is no one to address their situation afterward. According to Regehr and Bober (2005), police officers, firefighters, and other FRs do experience trauma especially when there is a threat on their lives. For instance, in one incident it was reported that a police officer had been shot at, and this affected their performance for some time. Similarly, firefighters have narrated how a lack of enough air has caused great distress when performing their duties. All these incidents underscore the need for CISD to be extended to the FRs. Clearly, CISD could help the emergency workers in addressing the problems they undergo some of which seem insignificant yet highly potentially traumatic.
For CISD to be effective to the FRs, it has to be conducted as per the guidelines and recommendations. As already indicated, CISD ought to be offered as soon as the incident has occurred lest it proves to be ineffective. The effectiveness of CISD is again dependent on one’s knowledge of its components, all of which are vital. The first step of CISD is pre-incident preparedness whereby organizations undergo vigorous training on how to prepare for incidents. Additionally, this component entails the mitigating steps to undertake in preventing some incidents. Also, the FRs are equipped with stress management skills to ensure they are not adversely affected while conducting the exact rescue mission (Blacklock, 2012). In the case, this component has been found to be pretty useful as it significantly reduces stress among FRs during a rescue mission.
Another vital component of CISD is defusing- normally offered within the first 12 hours of an incident. It is a three-phased session with the first being assessment of the symptoms likely to lead to trauma. At this stage, the affected person is assessed for the signs that trauma will occur. Secondly, patients are triaged if the assessment revealed the possibility of trauma. Thirdly, the CISD is also concerned with the mitigation of acute symptoms when it is evident the patients will experience trauma (Powers, 2015). Sadly in the case of FRs these steps hardly take place owing to the period some incidents take to subdue. In other cases, no one noticed the impact these incidents have on the FRs. For instance, Regehr and Bober (2005) reported that a police officer continued working even after being shot at. Even though the bullet did not penetrate the officer’s clothes, it left the law-enforcer shaken, but nobody offered any counsel.
Evidently, if CISD would be offered as per the guidelines especially within the timeline, the results would be tremendous on both the victims and the FRs. Powers (2015) reported that though in some cases people who underwent CISD still suffered PTSD, the timeline made all the difference. Victims who experienced PTSD were not offered CISD on time, and this was a major contributor. Police officers and other FRs who received CISD on time have been found to experience high productivity levels besides low cases of PTSD. In essence, CISD could play a pivotal role in the PCIT reduction, but only when conducted properly.
Notwithstanding these assertions, CISD has been found to be ineffective in some cases when immediately offered. In fact, some victims and even FRs who receive CISD still experienced PTSD. According to Powers (2015) there are a number of reasons for this occurrence one of which is the reaction time to incidents. Some people take time before showing strong reactions to incidences, thus almost nullifying the CISD. Though some people react almost immediately after an incident, it takes a longer period for others. As a result, this category of people will still experience trauma later despite receiving the CISD. Therefore, it is imperative to consider one’s level of reaction to an incident to ensure the CISD remains effective.
In the case of FRs, CISD plays a vital in the reduction of PCIT especially the police officers and paramedics. Even though there is a perception that FRs are trained to handle their job with little consequences the opposite is actually the case. In a study, 64% of police officers, paramedics and firefighters reported having experienced high levels of emotional distress. For paramedics, 87% reported havin...