International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Michael Constantakos, Senior U.S. Probation Officer
Drug Aftercare Treatment Specialist
Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division
I began my career in probation work with the state of Florida in 1990. It was a time of no cell phones, no laptops, and no firearms. I worked with a field book, worshiped my Dictaphone, and the clerk that typed my reports. I carried a dime in my pocket for emergency phone calls, yes, a “dime.” Nine years later I moved to the Florida Panhandle and began my career as a U.S. Probation Officer. I had a desk top computer with word processing capabilities. I eventually tossed the field book and now I am carrying a cell phone. A cell phone that is capable of, and continues to do, all sorts of things; Google Maps and GPS, to name a few. Oh, I forgot about the paper maps I carried before Google Maps, and GPS, well I won’t go there.
But what never changed was the constant training I received as a probation officer. Sure, the methodology changed, from in person classrooms to video conferences, Webinars, and now Zoom. No matter how it was presented, there was always training; self-defense, firearms, drug recognition, drug testing, mental health etc. Then there was always the mandatory yearly training; ethics, employee relations, discrimination, and sexual harassment.
When I first heard about Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), I was ever so interested in helping my fellow officers cope with an emotional incident. Why not? As a probation officer I am constantly involved my client’s day to day emotional trauma. However, when I looked at the intensive training involved, I tried to balance the training in relation to the “call outs,” you know the debriefings, the defusions, and the one-on-ones. As a member of TEAM Florida, a CISM group that combines all the U.S. Probation Districts in the State of Florida into one Florida CISM team, we are actively involved in yearly training, as well as, semi-annual teleconferences to discuss: how to improve the overall team; membership review (new members as well as retiring members); general business issues; and additional training (always training).
Then our Team got the first call out. Many questions raced through my head. “How is this possibly going to work?” “How do we deal with the skeptics?” “How do we deal with the people who provoke issues during the debriefing?” “What if I say the wrong thing?” The training we received always emphasized, “follow the model” and nothing will go wrong, just “follow the model.”
In pre-debriefing preparation as taught in our training, we obtained only the facts, or what was known as, “the gospel truth;” for where there is no speculation, there is no misconception. We had to determine who should be in what groups. Those officers and staff who directly observed, or were impacted in some way, by the event. Those officers or staff that were not adversely impacted but may still had a need to talk.
As we got into the debriefing, the lead person introduced each member of the group and we followed the model exactly as it was outlined. But, we did it in such a way as we were not mechanized, scripted, or just pulling things out of the air.
I was amazed how the officers and support staff in the debriefing came around. They eventually loosened up and you could see they were relieved to be discussing the traumatic event which lead them to the debriefing. What was even more amazing was the fact that there was no judgment, no condemnation, or no convictions. They just wanted to talk. They wanted to share how this traumatic event affected them and how they were coping.
As I went to other debriefings, and there have been several, all the debriefings went the same, for we followed the model. What was particularly interesting was the fact that officers and support staff involved in separate traumatic events asked similar questions. In two such events which involved similar circumstances, the unexpected death of an officer, the officers asked almost the same questions. “What do we do with the personal belongings of the officer left in their office?” “Who gets the office?” “When is it okay to move into the office without looking tacky.?” Always, always, was the question, “What is going to happen to the case load?”
When I look back at all the training I had, and as you can see from this article it was extensive, I wished they all worked like the model for ICISF. That is not to say there were no issues. These issues tend to arise from, lack of preparation on part of the team, and assuming the facts of the critical incident without obtaining and dealing with the reality of the incident. For example, assuming an officer passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, when the officer may have been cleaning their weapon and the gun accidentally discharged. These are two very different sets of circumstances. Are you are dealing with a suicide or an accident? At the time the team arrives, it may not be known how the person passed. There can be no assumptions or presumptions. You just deal with the facts as you have them.
In my thirty-year career when I look back at the members of TEAM Florida, I can honestly say that I worked with the most unselfish, gifted, and magnificent people. Members of the team were dedicated to serve by donating their time, energy, and sometimes personal resources, to assist fellow officers without recognition. I can truly say we did it because it was the right thing to do.
Every time we left a debriefing, we always thought the same thing, “but by the grace of God go thee.” There is no telling when a critical incident could strike someone’s life. CISM opened that light for me as well. It taught me to think that I am not invincible, this could happen to me. It also made me believe that even if the inevitable did occur, I would not be alone. There are unselfish people always willing to assist.
I don’t know what retirement will bring for me. But I wish TEAM Florida, and any CISM team, the best. I hope U.S. Probation Offices throughout the county continue to invest in CISM. I hope the Chief U.S. Probation Officers in Florida continues to invest in TEAM Florida. While the training is extensive, it merits an abounding return on the investment. I have spoken to several Chief U.S. Probation Officers regarding CISM and TEAM Florida, and their responses were similar in nature, “I am so glad I have it, but I sure don’t ever want to use it.” However, the reality is, you never know when the need will surface.
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