It's good to have these services delivered close in space and time to the event. Although CISM was originally developed to treat emergency workers for stress, Duggan says, the principles can be applied to assist anyone who is involved in a disaster. At BU, participants in his workshop viewed and discussed videos of well-publicized incidents. They learned how to assess a crisis scene and develop a plan of action as a team. And simulating the conversations that might occur during a fire, they learned specific techniques for encouraging evacuees to articulate their feelings.
Participants say the two-day experience was intense at times, but potentially very useful.
And looking back at some of the emergencies we have dealt with in past years, this training affirmed that we did a lot of things right. Ross and Fygetakis are considering a repeat of the CISM training. If you are interested, or have participated in the program elsewhere, contact Fygetakis at 353-3540.