Responder Resilience, May 11, 2022
On this episode, Stacy, Bonnie and David speak with Deputy Chief Bernie Meehan, a veteran of over 400 first responder debriefings. Our topic: Critical Incident Stress Management and Debriefings, and how a CISD/CISM debrief can kickstart the healing process.
The Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) process is a tool to help people who are involved in an incident that could have traumatic mental health consequences. CISD is designed to help responders process the event to diffuse symptoms of traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. The organization providing the debrief services often spends about 2 hours doing the debrief.
The debrief can kickstart the healing processes, but it is not therapy. It’s an opportunity for “universality”: the experience of “I’m not the only one who thought that or feels this way. So I’m not losing my mind”. Peer sharing is the critical piece of the process. A psychologist can say “Your symptoms are normal” but that pales in comparison to the impact of a peer who shares his/her reaction/thoughts to a critical incident. That alone can help relieve the worry that the first responder is “mentally ill” or “losing his/her mind”.
We also answer: how do you find and activate a CISD team? What credentials should you look for? What are the best practices for a successful CISD/M session? Are any 2 CISD/M events the same? What is the ideal location and size for a CISD/M, can they be too big or too small? What are the dangers of debriefing our own?
Premieres Wed, 7pm ET — ⫸ Watch replays anytime after Premiere
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#podcast #cisd #mentalhealth #cism #criticalincident #debriefing #buststigma #firefighter #police #ems #firstresponders #firstrespondersmentalhealth #military, #paramedic #police #storiesofhope #veterans #stigma
Cisd, cism, debriefing, critical incident, first responders, mental health, ptsd, depression, anxiety, suicide prevention, personal growth, firefighters, emergency first responders, emergency medical technician (profession), post-traumatic stress disorder, military, first responders mental health, mental health treatment, firefighter mental health, stigma,
Headlined Show, Responder Resilience May 11, 2022
CISD: Helping Responders Cope with Traumatic Events
On this episode, Stacy, Bonnie and David speak with Deputy Chief Bernie Meehan, a veteran of over 400 first responder debriefings. Our topic: Critical Incident Stress Management and Debriefings, and how a CISD/CISM debrief can kickstart the healing process.
The Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) process is a tool to help people who are involved in an event that could have traumatic consequences. CISD is designed to help responders process the event to diffuse symptoms of traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. The organization providing the debrief services often spends about 2 hours doing the debrief.
The debrief can kickstart the healing processes, but it is not therapy. It’s an opportunity for “universality”: the experience of “I’m not the only one who thought that or feels this way. So I’m not losing my mind”. Peer sharing is the critical piece of the process. A psychologist can say “Your symptoms are normal” but that pales in comparison to the impact of a peer who shares his/her reaction/thoughts to a critical incident. That alone can help relieve the worry that the first responder is “mentally ill” or “losing his/her mind”.
We also answer: how do you find and activate a CISD team? What credentials should you look for? What are the best practices for a successful CISD/M session? Are any 2 CISD/M events the same? What is the ideal location and size for a CISD/M, can they be too big or too small? What are the dangers of debriefing our own?
Guest, Deputy Fire Chief and Paramedic Bernie Meehan Jr
Deputy Fire Chief Bernie Meehan has been Involved in fire and EMS for over 45 years, active in both the career and volunteer fields, and has worked in the Career fire service for 35 years. He has been an Active Paramedic for the past 38 years, and was one of the paramedics responding to the Sandy Hook shooting.
Bernie has participated in over 400 critical incident debriefings and is a founding member of Connecticut CISD Team. Chief Meehan is a Peer Helper trained in both fire and law enforcement disciplines.
Responder Resilience
