Has your team experienced a highly stressful event recently? We can support departments of any size by delivering critical incident stress management (CISM), an approach that can help manage stress after a crisis when people may experience feelings and reactions such as shock and denial.
Critical incidents – which are defined as events that threaten physical or emotional safety or result in physical or psychological harm – can be scary and disruptive for the individual(s) and those around them, and these feelings can continue when not addressed.
CISM is a process that focuses solely on the immediate and identifiable problem. With the purpose to enable people to return to their daily routine more quickly, it is designed to do the following:
- Lessen the impact of the critical incidents
- Normalize instinctive reactions to the incident
- Encourage the natural recovery process
- Restore the adaptive functioning skills of an individual or group
- Determine the need for further supportive services or therapy
Examples of critical incidents
- Accidents/injuries/deaths occurring while at work
- Death of a colleague or supervisor
- Workplace violence, such as patient assault
- Layoffs
- Chronic job-related stress
- Building collapse due to an earthquake
- Active shooter or terrorist attack
To explore how the WorkWell Center can support your team to manage stress and other reactions after a critical incident, please reach out to us through our Contact Us page, by calling our office number at 213-821-0800, or by emailing workwell@usc.edu.