International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Alexandra Jump M.Div, APBCC, ICISM member
Cabot Vermont
Rev. Dr. Susan Suckocki-Brown- photo T&G staff Rick Cinclair
I took my initial training for Critical Incident Stress Management on the suggestion of Rev. Dr. Susan Suchocki Brown, a member of the Massachusetts Corps of Fire Chaplains. She was a First Responder Chaplain during 9/11. The Boston Marathon Bombing was in the spring of my senior year at Andover Newton Theological School. That day rocked our community as we all knew people who were running or watching the race and we all went on lockdown as the bombers were apprehended. It was a collective and massive trauma to individuals as well as to our community and our country.
I had been trained and certified in Pastoral Care and Counseling along with my Masters in Divinity. I had worked with patients, their families and their providers in hospitals and in the streets working with the homeless and housing insecure. But the bombing provoked discussions with Susan concerning my need for further training in trauma prevention during critical incidents. She introduced me to the concept of Critical Incident Stress Management. The bombing made it clear that my seminary training and my chaplain training through Clinical Pastoral Education in 4 separate hospitals were simply not enough.
I completed my CISM training with the Massachusetts Fire Academy in both Group Crisis Intervention and Assisting Individuals in Crisis as outlined by the ICISF. This training provided me the tools to work effectively in crisis situations I faced later as a Hospice Chaplain. I was able to use the methods outlined by the training when a residential care community had a number of events all come within a short time frame. Several residents had died within a short window, two staff members had died from battling cancer within that two-month timeframe, however the day I was called in was due to the staff learning that morning that a beloved staffer had committed suicide. Being able to respond to the needs of the staff, within an hour of being told of their need, helped the staff move through their shock and grief while giving them the tools to continue on with their jobs of care of others. Although the residential community had a grief specialist that came from the corporate office, they were not trained in CISM, the staff did not know them and the staff was not in a place to process their grief. They had patients to take care of. Group debrief and individual crisis management was reported to be more helpful to the staff in the short term then the longer bereavement groups.
Recently I moved home to Vermont and to Cabot where they have a volunteer fire department. I joined, not as a fire fighter, but as a Chaplain and the primary reason was due to my training in CISM. Just as Chaplain training is specialized to hospital, academic or military callings, joining a fire department as a Chaplain should require training by that department on how they do things. As Susan told me, ” how to put the boots on.” As a Chaplain, I will not pick up a hose, go into a burning structure, or get in the way of the first responders. I will be there to support the first responders by bringing a calming and informative presence to those who might be on the scene as victims or onlookers. I will be there for first responders to do individual and group debriefs after intense events. On the scene I will be able to be identified as Chaplain by my gear. CHAPLAIN in big letters on the back of my red coat and Alexandra on the front
(Having the last name JUMP might cause some confusion). Post scene, I might be part of the group, working with others who have the CISM training to do peer processing, or I might be called in by other departments to help with debriefing.
The training that is the most fundamental to understanding and knowing how the fire department works as a team is to be a part of the team. To that end, the Cabot Fire Department holds trainings each month and recently I participated in an extrication from a vehicle. The truck was donated by one of the members and after the cadaver dummy was placed in the passenger seat, I climbed into the driver’s seat and was buckled up. All the doors were then locked and the extrication began.
Cabot extracting the Chaplain photo by Chip Taylor
I thought I knew what to expect because I was told what the process was prior to going into the truck. However, one cannot really prepare for being extricated: for the sound of the breaking glass, nor the doors being pulled off, nor the lights flickering, nor the roof being pealed back by the crew. What was comforting to me was that I was told what was going on as it was happening. The training included questions and affirmations that would be asked at an accident: ” Ma’am, are you ok? “, ” We are going to get you out”, “We are going to break the window behind you.” Then Andy, acting as an EMS first responder unlocked the back-passenger door, entered the car and stabilized my neck. A blanket was placed over me to protect me from breaking glass. During the drill, the team paused and let me come out from under the blanket to see what they were doing. Throughout the drill Andy talked to me about the various scenarios that I might see at an actual accident with an extrication. Head injuries, drunkenness, overdoses, massive physical injuries, and death of vehicle occupants are traumas my team will experience and they will have to do their work with focus and precision to save lives.
As a chaplain I was able to gain invaluable experience as to what the victims of such an accident might experience. I can now better explain to those on the scene; bystanders and those who are involved, what the fire department is doing and why they are doing it. I can now better understand more clearly what it is like for the first responders to work a scene. The key to being a competent chaplain is put yourself into an empathic relationship with the individuals you are working with, victim or responder.
The day after the drill, I returned to the site and was able to see the aftermath of the surgical extraction. Just as I trained in the ICU and the ER, to be there for families as they waited for outcomes, I train with the Cabot Fire Department to be there for folks who are going through a traumatic event. The site of the truck gave me pause. I had been a willing participant in the practice extraction, yet extractions and accidents happen all the time, without scheduling and not staged. In the light of the day, it dawned on me the importance of knowing not only how an extraction is done, but more importantly what it feels like to be in one, to be there in the middle of it all. To be a member of a team that trains you the way they want you to be in that team is critical. To know and be a part of your team gives you the needed credibility when Critical Incident Stress Management is applied successfully.
The Day After- Photo by A. Jump
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