ISSUES AND PRACTICES.pdf - The Counseling Team International

Meets with the unit team leader to review the incident and ensure that affected employeesare notified to attend and are told where and when to go.Ensures that all affected employees are present or accounted for before the debriefingbegins.After the debriefing, arranges and runs a debriefing for all Post Trauma Programmembers involved in providing assistance.FollowupDuring and after the critical incident debriefing--which is mandatory--the regional coordinatormay refer affected employees to professional care providers primarily through the facility's EAPor human resources department. The unit teams meet once or twice a month to review what hashappened to officers involved in each incident. If any of the involved employees needs help, theteam assigns someone to talk to the person immediately and to follow up 2 or 3 days later to seeif the person is experiencing emotional difficulties as a result of the incident.An example of both teams in action"We had a hostage situation at 7:00 p.m. one night at my facility," Warden Richard Watkinsrecalls. "An offender's common law wife smuggled him a derringer, and the inmate used it totake an officer hostage, intending to force the officer to escort him through the gate." Accordingto the officer, Sergeant Deleta Jones,The offender held a two-shot derringer to my side and instructed me to take him to the back gate.The offender stated that he would kill me if I made any sudden moves or tried to alert anyone.Fearing for my life, I began to walk in the direction of the back gate with the offender. As wewere walking, I was able to make eye contact with the two officers who were coming down theslab. When the two officers were close enough to us, I alerted them by yelling, "This offenderhas a gun. Run!" All three of us ran, but the offender grabbed one of the other two officers andinjured him before he could free himself. Later, the inmate grabbed a fourth officer and held himhostage. After negotiations by a trained negotiator, for approximately an hour, the offendersurrendered his weapon and the hostage.A member of the unit team took the injured officer to the hospital. The team leader called otherteam members at home and had them go to the hospital. Jones continued:A [unit] team member asked me, "Are you OK? Do we need to talk?" But I was not upset. I wasmore concerned about my staff and the officer who was hurt. I took the injured officer to theemergency room in his car. Then Elaine [Smith] called me at the hospital to ask if he was OK.Elaine hung up. When she found out I was a victim, too, she called me back. A unit teammember then came to the hospital to support me and the officer. The next day, a unit teammember called me to see if I was still OK.The facility sent out a communication that was read at turnout for a debriefing [by the regionalteam] for those directly involved in the incident. We had the debriefing 2 or 3 days later. Eight