Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue, Lake-Geauga Critical Incident Stress Management Team, University Hospitals and the Mid-Ohio CISM Network combined for a two day CISM basic training class in Willoughby Hills.
The June 18-19 training aimed to provide team members with the tools needed to help fellow safety members deal with the difficult aspects of the job, said Willoughby Hills Fire Chief Rob Gandee.
Participants discussed processes and opportunities for helping a first responder cope after a traumatic experience and how to handle community briefings. They also went through debriefings after different case scenarios, reviewed how to talk with someone after an incident and went over signs to look for that additional intervention may be needed.
“Sometimes, in public safety, it is difficult to get what you see, hear, smell or experience out of you mind,” Gandee said. “These instances can cause psychological or mental health issues that can have significant impact on the personal or professional lives of those who help others.”
The Lake-Geauga CISM Team is one of about 27 teams across the state. It is comprised of current and retired EMS workers, firefighters, police officers, hospital staff, someone from the American Red Cross and three mental health workers.
CISM team training helps members help colleagues when they have been exposed to a traumatic incident that may have some mental health implications, Gandee said.
“It’s a different situation because public safety is exposed to a lot more grueling and traumatic situations on a regular basis,” Gandee said. “It’s a little different when it’s your job to take care of people and if things don’t go well.
“It is helpful for another police officer, firefighter or EMT to be able to talk to another police officer, firefighter or EMT because they have experienced it, they understand.”
Deirdre DeLong, director of the Critical Incident Response Service, points out that no matter what label is put on it, traumatic stress has been happening as long as these career paths have been followed. She notes that it’s just been within the past 25 to 30 years that first responders, public safety employees and mental health experts have been getting better at addressing the issues.
“No one understand the job the way other people who have done safety services work has,” DeLong said. “That peer support becomes very essential to a first responder managing cumulative post traumatic acute critical incident stress.”
It’s a requirement that every member of each team go through state-sanctioned training such as this every five years.
“With first responders, the equipment, the training, the awareness is all getting better, but this standard of care to encourage a firefighter or police officer to take care of his/her physical health without addressing their emotional or mental health is foolish,” DeLong said. “So these teams throughout Ohio, throughout the country and internationally help deal with that.”
according to Deirdre DeLong, director of the Critical Incident Response Service.
