Hoffman Estates Fire Department Standard Operating Guidelines (PDF)

HOFFMAN ESTATES FIRE DEPARTMENT STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES SOG Category & Identification Number: EFFECTIVE DATE: OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES – 002 January 1, 2022 NIMS COMPLIANT SOG Title: Critic...

HOFFMAN ESTATES FIRE DEPARTMENT STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES SOG Category & Identification Number: EFFECTIVE DATE: OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES – 002 January 1, 2022 NIMS COMPLIANT SOG Title: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Revision: 3 APPROVED BY: NUMBER OF PAGES: Re-evaluation Date: Alan Wax January 1, 2024 Fire Chief 3 PURPOSE This policy has been established to provide guidelines for Critical Incident Stress Management/Debriefings for emergency responders who have been exposed to, or are showing signs of traumatic stress experienced in the line of duty. DEFINITIONS A critical incident is any situation, which as sufficient emotional power to overwhelm a person’s usually very effective abilities to cope. It could also be understood as any situation faced by emergency service personnel that cause them to experience unusually strong emotional reactions, which have the potential to interfere with their ability to function either at the scene or later. The stress triggered by such an incident is called critical incident stress (CIS). The Northern Illinois Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team is the team that Hoffman Estates Fire Department will use. Their telephone number is 1/800-225-2473. POLICY Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) provides an organized approach to the management of stress for emergency responders who have been exposed to, or areshowing signs of traumatic stress experienced in the line of duty. The following require automatic notification:  Line of duty death  Serious line of duty injury  Suicide of one of our own  Disaster or major multi-casualty incident The following are examples of incidents that may warrant debriefing:  Significant events involving children 1   Death or serious injury to victims known to personnel  Prolonged incidents (especially if loss of life involved)  Any case that attracts unusually heavy attention from the news media  Event that is highly emotionally charged Key indications that a debriefing is necessary: 1. Change in behavior a. Excessive fear or anxiety b. Sleeping disturbances (nightmares, inability to sleep, need for excessive sleep) c. Avoidance behaviors d. Death preoccupation e. Confusion f. Acting out (socially unacceptable behavior) g. Suicidal thoughts 2. Regression: Experienced personnel acting like rookies 3. Continuation of symptoms 4. Intensification of symptoms a. Perception that things may seem to be getting worse b. What happened on duty has affected personnel’s home life 5. Group symptoms a. Mistakes or poor judgment on calls following incident b. Group unusually preoccupied with incident or sequence of events c. Gross humor (worse than normal for personnel) d. Company that usually gets along well together suddenly does not e. Other notable changes in group performance, attitude, or behavior f. Sustained perception of inability to carry out or accomplish previous duties as assigned ACTIVATION/NOTIFICATION Activation of the CISD process may be accomplished in one of the following ways:  Any Chief Officer may initiate the debriefing process  Company Officers, whose crew experienced a traumatic event, shall request the debriefing process by contacting the Shift Commander.  Any member who feels a need for confidential debriefing (one on one) shall contact the Deputy Chief of Operations who will contact the CISD team or the Fire Department chaplain as necessary. Nationwide Chaplain Services (847)890-5003 2 When activated, the incident will be evaluated by the CISD team for the type of debriefing required. The specific debriefing services utilized will depend greatly upon how early the team is activated, and the nature of the incident. If requested to the scene, the CISD team will report to the Command Post. After meeting with the incident commander, the team should be assigned to work in a quiet area that is removed from incident. The Fire Chief and Deputy Chief of Operations should be notified whenever the CISD system is activated. All incidents will not meet the qualifications for a formal critical incident debriefing, but where it is determined that intervention is necessary or beneficial following an incident, the Firefighter Peer Support Team or the Fire Department chaplain can be contacted. The chaplain will meet with the company or individual personnel as necessary. If the chaplain is trained in CISM and determines that aformal debriefing is necessary, the chaplain will contact the team and notify the Fire Chief and Deputy Chief of Operations. PROCEDURE EXCEPTIONS REFERENCES End of Document 3