craigdailypress.com

Professionals who respond to emergency situations routinely see human trauma on a level most people rarely, if ever, encounter.

A local group of volunteers with a mission to help these first-responders deal with the unique stresses of their jobs received formal recognition Wednesday when The Memorial Hospital board of trustees unanimously passed a motion that will bring the group under the hospital's framework.

The group, called the Bears Ears Critical Incident Stress Management Team, was represented by TMH nurse and patient care planner, Beka Warren. Warren approached the board to explain the nature of the team's mission and ask the board to approve the team's bylaws and incorporate the team as a volunteer branch of the hospital.

"Since they're all volunteers with no administrative expenses, it makes sense to call them a volunteer organization here at the hospital for the purpose of carrying out their mission," said Randy Phelps, hospital administrator.

The group began in 1997 specifically to counsel those who respond to stressful emergency situations. It has 14 members from various professions, including law enforcement, emergency medical services, nursing, crisis advocacy, mental health and dispatch.

Warren said one of the team's goals is to retain trained personnel by helping them to cope with the impact their jobs have on their lives.

"We provide peer support to first-responders," Warren said.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, "Recent research has identified that these emergency service providers are paying a heavy personal price because of this exposure to human trauma."

Warren spoke of some types of situations that are difficult for first-responders to deal with:

• Particularly bloody or gory situations
• Situations involving injured children
• Difficult rescues, including those in which victims died
• Rescuing people the first-responder personally knows. This is especially applicable to small communities like Craig, Warren said, where emergency personnel are likely to know many of the people they help.
• The cumulative effect of multiple, unrelated events

The team conducts "defusions" and debriefings with the first-responders. The team does not intend to replace professional counseling, but aims to "provide immediate crisis intervention."

The defusings occur immediately after the incident. The team encourages first-responders to talk about the event, and it monitors them to make sure they are not too shaken up to drive home and do not need immediate professional counseling.

The debriefing, Warren said, takes place later, perhaps after the funeral of a patient who died. The purpose of the debriefing is not to critique the efforts of the responders, but to "normalize the stress that occurs in the field" by talking about it. The debriefings are confidential sessions usually held at neutral locations. The supervisors of those being debriefed are not allowed to attend the sessions, Warren said.

The hospital administrator said the move to incorporate the volunteer team will help them with insurance liability and administration.

"For them to manage their money, they need to be under a corporate umbrella," Phelps said.

Phelps said he doesn't think it likely that the group would come under the scrutiny of a lawsuit, but being governed by the hospital will provide them the necessary liability coverage.

The group will not be a financial burden on the hospital, Warren said, because grants for these kinds of groups are widely available. In fact, she announced that the group has already received grant money for its operations.

Jeremy Browning can be reached at 824-7031 or jbrowning@craigdailypress.com