Bringing care and compassion in times of crisis
Disaster can strike at any time. Whether it strikes one person or many, a trauma can leave people feeling baffled, frightened and uncertain. The incident may last only a moment, but its effects can last a lifetime.
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) is a comprehensive crisis intervention program that helps people affected by a traumatic event return to a normal life as quickly as possible. Call 800/363-LCFS (5237).
LCFS' CISM can help in a variety of situations, such as:
- Counseling school children after the sudden death of a classmate
- Providing debriefings at a company after an employee committed suicide
- Meeting with a congregation after a natural disaster
LCFS provides several intervention services that can be used, depending on the time, place and magnitude of the incident.
LCFS Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) spans the three phases of a crisis:
- Pre-crisis
- Acute crisis
- Post-crisis
Our CISM program also includes consultation -- helping schools, churches and businesses develop plans for how they will respond in an emergency -- and training key leaders and staff in those organizations so that they can respond appropriately.
Services
Consultation for developing crisis response plans
Pre-incident training
On-scene support counseling
Peer counseling
One-on-one crisis intervention
Disaster intervention services (demobilization)
Defusings – small group sessions within 12 hours of the crisis
Critical incident stress debriefings – small group sessions within one to seven days after the crisis
Follow-up services
Support for individuals indirectly involved
Family support
Professional counseling
These services are carefully integrated to prevent or minimize the adverse psychological reactions that are often triggered by traumatic events. For more information, call 800/363-LCFS (5237).
Teams
CISM teams are made up of LCFS counselors, Lutheran pastors and volunteers from churches, schools and the community. These volunteers represent many professional backgrounds, such as teachers, nurses, mental health professionals and law enforcement officials.
All members of the team are training and certified by The International Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation, Inc.