Predicting post-incident stress in emergency personnel: a guide for mental health professionals on critical incident stress management teams

Abstract

The role of the Mental Health Professional (MHP) on Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams has been described as one of assess and refer. That is, to assess participants who are reacting strongly to a critical incident and refer them for additional psychological help. The purpose of this article is to present guidelines, from practice and from the research literature, for MHPs to use to help them predict which participants are likely to experience high-stress reactions following the critical incident. The stages of a CISD are briefly described and the predictive features associated with each stage are discussed.