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What The Leader Needs To Know:
Preparing Your First Responders For A Crisis
The Opportunity
Have you ensured that the first responders in your
enterprise are mentally and emotionally prepared to perform during
and after a crisis? If not, the ability of your organization to
recover from a crisis is at risk.
Most often the term "first responders" is used in reference to
public emergency service personnel typically police, fire and EMS.
The term refers to those called upon to immediately respond to an
emergency. The reactions and behaviors of these individuals play
a significant role in limiting the loss of life and destruction
of buildings, equipment and materials.
In large organizations, corporate or non-profit, first
responders are in departments that span the organization1.
Experts report that in the post-September 11th environment the demands
on these individuals and the dependency of their organizations on
their performance have changed dramatically. For instance, one report
notes2
"...service personnel have been given added and more complex
responsibilities ... need to be vigilantly prepared for large scale,
mass-casualty events ... should these events occur ... (they) are tasked
with unprecedented, enormous, and sustained personal and professional
challenges."
Certainly you have increased the technical training,
table top, and full scale drills that your first responders participate
in. However, findings as noted above, point to how essential it
is to provide your first responders with the competencies and support
to manage the mental and emotional demands of their roles. Through
terrible experiences from September 11th to random shootings to
historic natural disasters we have learned that the ability of first
responders to think and respond to unforeseen circumstances is the
critical determinant of an effective response.
Most first responders will experience some level of
mental and emotional stress in responding to any significant crisis.
Most will manage this stress independently and successfully over
time. Keep in mind that in the short term, absent strong coping
skills, these stresses will decrease their performance and judgment
in responding to a crisis. Further, there is evidence that those
responding to a terrorist attack are much more susceptible to developing
Acute Stress Disorder and the longer-term Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder3.
This means the risk to your organization has increased. Those organizations
that respond most effectively to a crisis will return to and perhaps
exceed former performance levels.
The skills and support your first responders need
to bring your organization back on line are identified and can be
affordably developed and provided.
How To Leverage It
- Adopt A Four Phase Approach To Preparing First Responders
To Minimize Emotional & Mental Stresses
A four phase approach is recommended by leading authorities4 and
consists of the following.
- Policy Development
- Building Coping Skills & Resilience
- Enabling Crisis Response
- Post-Crisis Support
The first two phases are both often overlooked and paradoxically
where the most value can be obtained. It's in these two phases
that you can do the most to ensure the recovery and on-going performance
of your organization.
- Policy Development
Professionals tend to build client relationships on an opportunistic
basis. Starting out any client or prospect is welcomed by the
professional new to business development. The result is a client
base that is extremely diverse. On the surface this appears to
be a strength, i.e. relationships across a broad range of industries
and geographies. However, many professional services firms have
difficulty determining the real profitability of any given client,
much less the entire client base.
Our recommendation is given their special responsibilities, risks
and stresses that you establish policies that provide a higher
level of support and consideration to first responders than to
other employees. Here are just some that should be considered.
- Communication To First Responder Significant Others
One of the most powerful determinants of performance under stress
is the presence of social support. In a crisis situation the
first responders significant others will either encourage them
to stay engaged in the crisis response or to withdraw.
Significant others will encourage and support engagement to
the degree they feel knowledgeable about what is happening and
the steps being taken to ensure the safety and well-being of
the responder.
This policy should place a senior manager in charge of communicating
with first responders significant others on an on-going basis.
This individual should have protocols and access to technology
to make this communication available in real time and as efficient
as possible. Conference calls, websites and emails should all
be pre-scheduled and scripted.
The policy should also allow for significant others to get
messages to first responders when personal needs dictate.
In addition, to using technology, a team of managers should
be sent to pre-selected offsite locations to meet with significant
others in person. This is particularly important when the crisis
response will be of long duration.
- Expanded Medical & EAP Services
A crisis situation may well require the expansion of medical
and EAP services to support all employees. The organizations
and/or individuals who will be used to expand these services
should be trained in Critical Incidence Stress Management, prescreened,
and participate in practice drills. Credentials should be communicated
to first responders and significant others prior to a crisis
occurring.
- Compensation Continuity
Depending on the severity of the crisis and the resources of
the organization, it may be necessary to furlough, lay-off or
otherwise interrupt compensation to employees. A policy should
be established on how, to what level and under what circumstances
such actions will be taken.
First responders should be designated and excluded from such
disruptions to their compensation. This may seem obvious but
absent a clear policy, first responders performing heroically
on behalf of the organization have found their financial security
threatened.
- Emergency Financial Authority
Despite the best of contingency planning, crises will present
unanticipated circumstances. First responders need the ability
to purchase goods and services on an immediate basis in order
to perform their duties and maintain their well being.
All first responders should have a reasonable ability to expend
funds for emergency transportation, food, supplies and equipment.
- Mandatory Rest Periods
First responders should be required to work no more than 12
hours on followed by a minimum of 12 hours rest. This is critical
to their safety and well-being as well as their availability
to meet the organization’s recovery needs.
- First Responder Leave Policy
The common signs of acute stress are most often not a sign of
a psychological illness or long-term reaction such as PTSD.
They can often be managed effectively if the responder can leave
the crisis environment when these reactions threaten to become
overwhelming. However, most first responders out of a sense
of obligation and fear of stigma will resist taking advantage
of sick time or medical leave. Therefore, it is prudent to provide
the ability of first responders to take a short leave of 3 –
5 days without accessing these other forms of leave. At the
end of this brief period they may well find their coping and
resilience returned. If not, they will be more likely to agree
to the typical medical or sick leave.
These are some policies to put in place to ensure the performance
and well being of your first responders.
- Building Coping Skills & Resilience
All people in response to a crisis will find ways of coping. There
is a known set of coping skills and behaviors that build and maintain
resilience. The need is to educate and train responders in effective
skills and behaviors to prevent them from using those that may
create rather than resolve stress and long-term adjustment.
Skills and behaviors can be outlined in written communication.
However, to ensure their effective and consistent use they should
be practiced on a regular basis. This will have the added benefit
of improving the first responders performance in their normal
duties.
Coping and resilience behaviors can be built into existing training
exercises and drills. However, the use of online scenarios is
highly recommended for building these skills. Online scenarios
provide the following advantages:
- Affordability vs. traditional training
- Scalability allowing large numbers to receive training with minimal increased investment
- Ability to include confidential, self-assessment of coping skills
- Online coaching & peer communication embedded in the learning
- Flexibility to add multiple crisis scenarios as needs and threat levels change
- Modeling of these behaviors by scenario characters
- Participation based on individual availability
This article has focused on the first two steps in a four phase
approach to preparing your first responders to handle the mental
and emotional stresses of responding to a crisis and returning
your organization to normal performance levels. In a future article,
we will review the remaining two phases. Again, we suggest that
the greatest value will result from investing in the first two
phases.
1Included are employees in: security;
healthcare; fire safety; technology; environmental services; EAP;
building engineering; communications; human resources; and transportation. [Return
to Article]
2Fostering Resilience
in Response To Terrorism: A Fact Sheet for Psychologists Working
With First Responders, APA Task Force On Resilience in Response
To Terrorism, American Psychological Association. Retrieved from
www.apa.org. Retrieved July 2004. [Return
to Article]
3Follow up studies
from the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City as
well as the September 11th New York attack suggest that first responders
are significantly less likely to manage the stress independently. [Return
to Article]
4See note 2 above. [Return
to Article]
© 2004 Flanagan Consultants, LLC. Terms and Conditions
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