Don’t delay!
Critical incidents and other distressing events happen in the workplace from time to time. From research and our wide-ranging experience over 20 years in the field, we know that the initial response to these events can have a profound impact on the wellbeing of staff involved, and their organisations.
We are often called in to provide further support down the track when the effects of not responding early has already impacted on people’s capacity to recover. Over time, these effects can accumulate and have a profound impact on staff wellbeing, workplace ‘presenteeism’ (being present at work, but with low capacities for attention, performance, safety, and productivity) as well as on their relationships and quality of life.
The nature of your early response to an unexpected event sends a strong message to employees about how an organization values them and your commitment to safety in the workplace.
Vitae provides immediate support and guidance to organisations about best-practice planning and response, as well as a comprehensive range of interventions to use before, during, and after workplace critical incidents.
These include:
- Practical advice for managers about your immediate response and how to tailor support for your work environment
- Crisis management briefings for affected staff
- One-to-one intervention for people
- Immediate small group support (defusing)
- Subsequent group support (debrief)
- 1:1 or small group follow-up
- Referral to follow-up counselling or other specialist support as required
- Consultation and advice on policies, procedures and guidelines to provide an integrated organisational response
- Post-event reviews
- Information and education for staff and managers
- Incident response coordination (for larger-scale events).
We’ll advise about the best-practice option for your workplace, drawing on the expertise of our trauma response team and managers. This includes onsite and remote support.
The benefits of an early response
For your staff, an effective early response can:
- ‘Normalise’ the usual range of reactions, but also give people some indicators
of distress for to look out for - Mitigate some of the less helpful responses to traumatic events, that are harder
to shift over time – the earlier we intervene, the better the outcome - Help people identify strategies they can use themselves
- Prevent cumulative strain, compassion fatigue, and burnout associated with
- Exposure to multiple events over time.
As a manager, it helps to:
- Show your staff that your organisation cares about people
- Enhance social support within the team
- Empower your staff by giving them information and strategies to support their own recovery
- Keep your workplace safe by fostering employee ‘presence’.
When to request Vitae support
Managers should contact Vitae immediately after a workplace-related event that:
- Is threatening or disturbing – actual or threatened injury, death, loss…
- Results in unusual upset or distress for staff
- Is complex, unusual, ambiguous, or morally challenging
- Leaves people feeling as if their actions were unsuccessful or that they or others should have done something about
- Disrupts work relationships or support networks
- Has potential for ‘vicarious’ trauma – e.g. involving the suffering of others, or managing disturbing information and content.
Access critical incident services
Call our 24/7 freephone 0508 664 981 to be connected to a senior manager or critical incident response lead. They will triage the situation by phone and talk you through how to respond, what we can offer to help and deploy appropriate support.
Learn more: Critical incidents and trauma