CISD

Today was supposed to be more NIMS ICS training at the fire department, but instead there was a CISD that was being held. A CISD is a Critical Incident Stress debriefing. It is something that people choose to attend after a particularly troubling call. The CISD’s supposedly help control the burn-out that EMT’s have as well as the suicide rate of EMT’s and other public servants.

I was not sure of the indications of whether one should go or not. I was really curious about what one was and how they worked. I know some people have issues about not being able to eat, sleep, or function very well. These CISD’s are made for those kind of people. I have been doing that just fine as I always do.

The only time I had any kind of weird reaction to a call where a death took place was my first call where a dead person was at it. I was new on the department and I had not been on any kind of major call like this. Honestly it wasn’t a major call, it was just something where someone could be dead. A couple of us were playing cards down at the Deuce when the call came in at something like eight in the morning.

We got to the scene and rode the elevator to the floor. While going up in the elevator we learned that a nine-one-one call had come in from that location a few hours prior but no one was sent. I was thinking that could be very bad. We knocked. Someone opened the door. I could see several people in a kitchen area just off of the front door. Across the room I could see someone laying in a hospital bed and they appeared to be grayish-blue and dead. We started to go to the patient and a lady jumped in front of us and screamed that we could not go back there.

When everything was worked out it was a hospice situation and there was some confusion between the funeral homes and Whitcom. So we didn’t do anything and left. I had been across a room from the dead. We were not there for a long time. It wasn’t my first dead body either. It was my first on as an EMS responder and outside of a funeral home setting.

For the next few days that was pretty heavy on my mind, but there were also a couple other things on the mind as well, so it probably did not help the situation. I was nearing the decision for a job change. So I had some heavy things going on.

I debated on whether to go or not. Because there is the aspect in my mind that if I go I am weak and that I cannot handle my job. Which I know is not the case in the slightest. I have no problem looking at the dead, studying the wounds, and documenting things. I was there for hours upon hours without having a problem. But the curiosity of wanting to see what a CISD was about really pushed me towards going.

Also, I don’t know what the signs are. Like I said some people have all these symptoms of stress. I wasn’t having problems at all. But as one of the people who ran the CISD said, you may not have a problem, but by being there you can be helping those who do have a problem.

So he made it seem like even if you have no bad effects from the scene at all you should go to support your fellow responders. That made sense to me. As the actual event I was at is a closed door session I cannot talk about the specifics at all. But I can say CISD is a helpful event for people. As a crew leader I am going to talk to the guys a little bit about the CISD process and that should there ever be a thought that one is needed not to be shy about it.

I also will watch for the guys on my crew. I was watch there demeanor and if it is off after a rough call, I will help them deal with what they are going through.

For me the CISD gave me a more clear understanding of the incident as a whole. I don’t think I personally had any revelations. I actually held back a lot because I did not want to get into the gory details that I saw.

After the CISD I went to the office and putted around on the computer for a couple hours before making my way to bed.