International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Daniel Perrin, Paulding County E-911, Tactical Dispatch Team Member
“Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.”
This quote, by Clive Barker, portrays my entry into Critical Incident Stress Management. My journey began last year, just a hair past 0400. I am a Lead Communications Officer for Paulding County E-911 in Dallas, Georgia and this particular morning, I had just finished training a new hire for the night when the phone rang.
You can typically tell within the first few seconds of an emergency call, before the caller speaks, the severity of the incident. In this case that statement rang true. My baby’s not responding…those were the first words spoken over the phone. Quickly I entered their address and verified the patient, in this case an 11 month old girl, was not conscious and not breathing. I began walking the caller through CPR. For seven and a half of the longest minutes I can remember, with my coaching, we did everything we could to try and save her daughter. Fire Rescue arrived on scene and immediately took over CPR; when the ambulance arrived they did a load and go, meaning the patient was run out to the ambulance and they left for the hospital. Despite everyone’s best efforts the baby did not survive and was pronounced deceased shortly afterwards.
Twice that day I was overcome with emotion. The first time was shortly after the ambulance transported. I excused myself from the room and broke down in the break room. The second time was at home after getting off work. I walked in the front door and my wife was in the kitchen. Significant others have a way of knowing when something isn’t right or something is off, even when no words are spoken. She looked at me and being the wonderful, loving, compassionate woman she is, said “you look like (insert your choice of four letter word here).” That’s all it took….I couldn’t get one word out. I collapsed into tears on my kitchen floor.
It was 6:20 in the morning, kids should be getting ready for school, and my wife should be making their lunches. Instead we were all on the kitchen floor, them embracing me, and I was so overwhelmed with emotion words could not come to explain what had happened hours before. It felt like we were on the floor forever, when in reality only about fifteen minutes passed. Sleep didn’t come easily, with the call playing in my head over and over, like a locomotive on a circular track. Did I do everything correctly? Did I miss a step? Could any other action have changed the outcome? The mother’s cries and pleas were all I heard when I closed my eyes.
Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart. -Jose N. Harris
The next day, the Deputy Director of my center, Christina Kelly, who is also the leader of our CISM team, pulled me aside and spoke to me. She provided me with the psychological first aid I was unaware I desperately needed. It was all I could do not to break down in front of her. She let me know it was ok to not be ok, and provided me with guidance and support in a time where I was, for lack of a better word, struggling. It was during this conversation where I expressed interest in becoming involved in CISM.
A few weeks later I was sent to a 3 day ICISF course to obtain certifications in both Individual and Group Crisis Intervention. The course was instructed by Jim Nill, and Dr. George Everly was also in attendance. To say the training was beneficial and well presented, would be nothing short of an understatement. It provided me with the tools to not only help my peers in their time of crisis, but granted me an entirely new viewpoint and skill-set which I could use to assist the citizens of our county. My expectation was, I would come back to work and be available in the infrequent event one of my peers needed an ear. Those expectations were wrong, but in a very positive way.
Shortly after receiving certification and joining our (now) 4 member Peer Support team, we joined up with the Georgia 911 Peer Support Network. It was created and led by Theresa O’Connell, who is a Communications Supervisor with Roswell 911. The network is comprised of 7 agencies, with an eighth currently working towards joining. All members are 911 dispatchers, all certified in Peer Support and Crisis Intervention, and all working towards the same goal; providing support and comfort in times of need, with the benefit of having walked through the same trenches they have.
In 911, we are the calm voice in the dark. We provide help to the citizens of our jurisdictions 24/7/365 without hesitation. Every day we interact with people during the worst days of their lives, sending them help, providing medical instructions, or just showing compassion and empathy to someone in crisis. At the end of the day, when we place the headset down, are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, the only person that can truly relate to one of us is a Dispatcher. This is where the Peer Support Network (PSN) comes in. Once a request for assistance or support is received, a team is able to be formed quickly from available personnel to respond to whatever center is requesting help. Since we all have similar experiences and training, a multi-agency team is able to adapt and work together with relative ease.
Responding to several requests outside of my agency has had several additional benefits. First, it has allowed me to observe and learn from my peers. The team is made up of Dispatchers with varying levels of experience, from 5 years to over twenty. Every tasking is an opportunity to see how my peers prepare and approach a situation. It’s a chance to learn in real time what techniques work in what situations, different ways to phrase questions and statements, and ways to approach responses since no response is the same. Another benefit is being able to observe how each center establishes their teams, how they recruit and vet new members and what qualities they look for in potential new members to ensure they are a good fit. Finally, I’m able to ask about each center’s policies and procedures regarding their CISM/Peer Support Teams. In turn, I’m able to take their input and feedback back to my team to continuously work on and improve our policies and abilities.
Having been in Public Safety since I was 18 years old, I’m able to say with ease that working in Peer Support/CISM has been the absolute pinnacle of my career to date, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
As the Ancient Roman Orator Cicero wrote:
“Non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici – Not for us alone are we born; our country, our friends, have a share in us”
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