International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Art Wlodyka, M.A., RCC (Police Officer and Mental Health Clinician in New, Westminster, BC)
When the COVID pandemic started, I had just flown back to Vancouver, BC from the United States. I went to my department and picked up my police laptop so I could work remotely for the fourteen days of self-isolation. There was a palpable anxiety of unknowns on how this pandemic would unfold. Shortly thereafter, there was clear concise information coming from our senior management about the virus, followed by an operational plan, mixed with health and safety tips from our wellness officer. I checked in with our CISM team in our WhatsApp message group, and began working on a team deployment plan with our team coordinators. We worked through how we would respond what spaces we would use, and what pre-cautions we would take but we felt comfortable that we could continue to be there for our officers. We considered if we should be involved in some crisis management briefings (CMB’s). In our case, our senior leadership was conveying regular updates, and our newly instituted health wellness officer was preparing officers for how they may be impacted and how to cope. I especially liked his use of humour, when suggesting officers could google some breathing exercises, but might worry about someone seeing their search history. He suggested put the words “navy seal” in front of breathing and “you’re good to go.”
In this case it felt appropriate as a CISM team to step back, organize and be ready to respond if the need arose. We did provide one-on-one interventions and small group defusings after a few standard traumatic calls. Shortly after the pandemic response, there was also a surprising boost in organizational morale. Officers from units such as school and traffic were redeployed to support frontline uniformed patrol response. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was sourced and provided. A sense of purpose, mixed with good information, the right equipment, and perceived support from leadership, led to strong morale. The community also rallied around health care and first responders. The 7pm hospital drive-by became a rally point for health care workers, and citizens alike. One health care worker wrote into our department, that she was in the intensive care unit (ICU) with a COVID patient when the sirens went by, and it “meant the world to her.” Walking around in uniform was often met with, “thank you for your service.”
In our area, not overly hard hit by COVID, it felt almost underserving. That being said, contrasted with periods of anti-police sentiments, it has been a welcome change. Not saying this will last forever (could be a honeymoon phase), but for our organization, it has felt like a strong and united response to the pandemic.
Best of luck to all of the readers with the next phases of the response.
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