Critical Incident Stress Management and Critical Incident Stress debriefings: evolutions, effects and outcomes

Abstract

This chapter describes and reviews the comprehensive Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) system. The components of critical incident stress management include preincident education/mental preparedness training, individual crisis intervention, support/on-scene support, demobilization after disaster or large-scale events, defusing, critical incident stress debriefing, other significant support services for families and children, and follow-up services and professional referrals as necessary. The concepts and mechanisms that are thought to serve as a foundation for CISM as a crisis response system are: early intervention, the provision of psychosocial support, the opportunity for expression, and crisis education. These factors are the four cornerstones of CISM. The studies reviewed in the chapter indicate that a comprehensive, systematic and multicomponent crisis intervention approach to traumatic stress, namely CISM, has an excellent potential for mitigating critical incident stress and restoring people to normal life functions.