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| By Sgt. Mark St. Hilaire |
As a professional reading this article no matter who you are
and at what rank you are in your agency, ask yourself: What is our plan to
assist a brother or sister in crisis?
Your agency doesn’t have one? It is now time for you to have
that courageous conversation with your union leaders along with your agency
leaders to develop the plan. There are
many precious lives at stake.
Here are the important points I need to share with everyone,
especially first responder agency leaders and their union leaders:
YOU NEED TO HAVE A PLAN TO INTERVENE IF THIS HAPPENS TO A FIRST
RESPONDER, ESPECIALLY ONE OF YOURS.
Everyone needs to understand the plan and Pre-incident training is the
key for a successful response. Practice and more practice especially for the:
What if?
1
COMMUNICATION:
Very important as this is no time for egos or personality conflicts. Advise all
responders what is happening, all vital information and expect the
unexpected. A law enforcement agency
supervisor in dispatch along with a supervisor on scene MUST be focused on the
task at hand on any suicidal action call.
If you are served by a CISM team focusing on first responders, call them
immediately to activate this team to be ready to assist our friend in need and
our co-workers who will have their own anxieties to deal with during and
following the incident. Most peer teams
have trusted mental health professionals who work with first responders daily
and know our culture.
2 RESPONSE:
First responders don’t know what the suicide plan, method of action or know if
a weapon or dangerous substance or item is being used. EMS staged near the scene is important along
with an assessment of the situation. Can a police patrol team make contact with
our friend or has it escalated to bring in a higher trained special response
team. This is why you need the plan: who
are our resources if needed and practice, practice and more practice.
3
TREATMENT:
In your plan, what hospital on the outside of your professional service area is
ready to discretely assist your first responder suffering an emotional crisis? It is obvious if they are critically injured
you are taking them to the nearest medical facility. This is part of the plan which should include
an annual training session with all agency, CISM team and hospital personnel
attending. Friendships and future
anxiety reduction will occur during these trainings as everyone become familiar
with one another.
4
POST
INCIDENT CARE: Is your agency or union ready to assist our first responder
in need with a vetted and professional program to assist with the emotional
needs. Do you have several referrals
ready in state or out of state? Are they
covered by insurance? Will the agency or union cover the other costs involved? This is part of that plan which needs to be
negotiated and agreed to now. This will
reduce our friend’s hesitancy when the service is needed due to a fear of not
being able to afford it financially.
5
POST
INCIDENT DIFFUSING: Prepare to assist the incident first responders and
others with your CISM team. As part of
your agency plan and training, a CISM team should be activated for the on duty
personnel responding to an incident. From dispatchers through the ranks,
everyone involved should be immediately assisted with this emotionally charged
event.
6
SHOW
RESPECT: Any working first responder who lives in the real world knows that
we all face low points in our careers and our personal lives. So why do we second guess others when they
are in crisis. A lack of education and
training does bring about ignorance which we are trying break in our public
safety culture. Sensitivity is needed
for everyone as emotions are raw for everyone involved. Pre-incident training on suicide prevention
and awareness is important. Consider
putting yourself in our friend’s shoes.
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