QI and CISD Sessions anyone?

[ffemt8978]

Having finally been to one (and it will probably be my last), I can see how they help some people. For me, it didn't help much. I prefer to do my stress debriefing here, and with a few close friends involved in EMS.

Then I go to the range and repeatedly ventilate some paper using high velocity lead therapy.

 

[Phridae]

Last year sometime there was a 3 yo who rolled his head up in a window. No CISD there.

February we had a murder/suicide. The guy was the brother of a firefighter. My first gunshot wound call. shot gun wounds actually. No CISD there. And we needed it then.

I hear about it, but I 've never seen it. Its a myth around here.

 

[Frankie]

HA CISD what a joke. Ive been to plenty of them and there never any help. Personaly i need a good friend to open up and talk to. Not some person who only comes out when something "BAD" happened and then tries to help u get through it.
Yes it may be a resource but hell ihave never had it help me or anyone else i know.

 

[vtemti]

Just like many types of therapy, helps some, but doesn't others and if you attend them with a bad attitude from the very beginning, then of course they won't help.

 

[MMiz]

Originally posted by FrankieCastle@Jul 3 2005, 03:48 PM
HA CISD what a joke. Ive been to plenty of them and there never any help. Personaly i need a good friend to open up and talk to. Not some person who only comes out when something "BAD" happened and then tries to help u get through it.
Yes it may be a resource but hell ihave never had it help me or anyone else i know.

But as you're read on the forum, it does help people. I know many employees that attended a CISD after certain calls, and while it's not helpful for all, it does help others. I think that if it helps just one then it's worth it.

 

[TTLWHKR]

I'm not the type of person that can sit down w/ a large group of people and talk about my feelings. I'd rather console myself, in my own ways. Usually it gets bottled up and set aside for another day, and I do something that sets my mind somewhere else. I have had a few instances where I'm sitting alone watching TV, or reading and something triggers a memory and it takes me back to that. Some call them flashbacks, or delayed stress reactions. I think of it more as time slowing down and my mind catches up with it, since I do put most things off to deal with in the future. Is it healthy? Probably not, but its not like I'm nuts, at least not anymore than anyone else in the field. I've been to one CISD, and the only purpose was that LEOs wanted to sit in and hear the whole story of what happened before the shooting victims became unresponsive. I felt that if they want to debrief us, the cops should not have been there, it would have been fine to interview us, not listen in on the CISD. That was more of a violation to us, than anything else. I refused to talk about it, the cops got pissed and started asking questions, people left.. cops followed them and were grilling them. After that we had no trust in management, so now if we all want to talk...... we go to a bar and talk.

 

[akflightmedic]

Obviously, it sounds as if your CISD was not handled properly. You are right, the PD should not have been there and questioning you. This is why it is SO important that only trained people handle these sessions-and no you do not have to be a shrink or any of that crap. I am a trained CISD facilitator. It has to be handled properly or it will not work.
The problem with CISD is it has a negative connotation to start with. You say the words mental illness and immediately you want nothing to do with it. Since CISDs are working with mental/stress issues, we as professionals associate it with mental illness and we also do not want others to see us as weak or inept in our ability to handle a call.
To make CISDs work, we need to erradicate the negative stigma associated with it. How do we do this? In my experience, it is a long and difficult process. The people that have the most trouble sitting thorugh these sessions are firefighters, because as well all can probably agree, the fire mentality is way different than a service that only does EMS. It is ok to sit in front of the rig and "defuse", but you have not yet gone through a debriefing. Big difference. Someone mentioned earlier that their CISD took place three days later. That is ok. Sometimes, it takes that long before you are able to reorganize yourself and be prepared to deal with it, or symptoms may have been delayed. However you should have had a defusing before that time.
It is true that it does not work for everyone, but EVERYONE that was involved on a call that is going to be a CISD needs to be present. Your presence may not benefit yourself, but it may be helping someone else in attendence. Shouldn't we be helping each other out? I believe so. In a study done on emergency workers that attended a CISD, greater than 90% said they would recommend a CISD even though it did not benefit them. So wake up people, don't be so condescending to a treatment that may help our fellow brothers and sisters. Encourage them and do not pick on or make fun of someone that requests a CISD. They might go home and handle it some other way.
One way to remove the stigma is to make it mandatory. Now before you get your feathers ruffled, lets look at this from a SAFETY perspective. First remove the word mandatory and let's just call it automatic. Now imagine from here on out, that if you go on a certain type of call, it generates an "automatic CISD'. No longer do you have a stigma, its part of your job and you accept it. You know you are going to go. So, what's the harm. Would you enter a fire without putting on SCBA? Would you treat a patient without putting on gloves? No, its all about safety. Would you go to a sexually assaulted, shaken baby, pediatric code without checking your mental well being after? No.
LAFD county, who has over 3,000 firefighters did such a thing. After making it automatic, you know what they found. First, turnover dropped, morale improved, sick time decreased, and the use of EAP for certain other vices(abuses) decreased. This was not a fluke. Its time we take care of ourselves because no on else is.
Sorry about the long story, but I am passionate about this subject and angered when people are narrowminded. Give it a shot. The life you help save, may be you partners...