LINCOLNSHIRE JOINT EMERGENCY SERVICES INITIATIVE FOR STAFF AT RISK FOLLOWING CRITICAL INCIDENTS (FROM PRISON SERVICE PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE: CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS, P 150-154, 1991, SIMON BODDIS, ED.)

• NCJ Number: 143088
• Author(s): R Orner
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper presented at Her Majesty's Prison Service Psychology Conference held at the Hotel St. Nicholas in Scarborough, October 16-18, 1991.

Annotation

This paper describes measures taken by the North Lincolnshire Health Authority to prepare emergency services staff for the psychological impact of critical incidents and to provide services for them to aid in the maintenance of mental health.

Abstract

The Planning and Coordinating Group that laid the foundation for the Joint Emergency Services Initiative operated under the following premises: pre-emptive action is preferable to reactive response after a critical incident; education and training is to have higher priority than counseling; emergency services are to jointly recognize the "at-risk" status of staff rather than the inevitability of traumatization; there will be flexibility in implementation of the Joint Services Initiative to accommodate specific requirements of each Emergency Service; and long-term arrangements will include a management structure for an initiative that assumes responsibility for continuous training. An information booklet prepared for Emergency Service Personnel has been the core of the initiative. The program provides for advice and professional therapeutic services for individuals whose reactions to critical incidents call for more than self-help.