WHAT IS CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS (CIS)?
A Critical Incident is an incident or stressor event (crisis event) which appears to cause, or be associated with, a crisis response and which has the ability to overwhelm a person's usual coping mechanism (Everly and Mitchell, 1999).
The most severe forms of Critical Incident (CI) may be considered traumatic incidents.
Ambulance personnel are more commonly exposed to smaller scale traumatic events such as road traffic accidents, suicides or COT deaths (Clohessy and Ehlers, 1999). An event may occasionally be so traumatic or overwhelming that emergency personnel may subsequently experience a significant stress reaction.
Critical Incident Stress (CIS) is the stress reaction of a person or a group to a Critical Incident (or CI) and is characterised by a wide range of cognitive, physical, emotional and behavioural signs and symptoms which are likely to diminish over time (Lavan & McManamly, 2003). It may be viewed as a collection of symptoms which develop in response to unusual or abnormal life events.
COMMON SIGNS OF EXCESSIVE STRESS
These can include:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Loss of motivation
- Dreading going to work
- Becoming withdrawn
- Racing thoughts-
- Confusion
- Difficulty making decisions
- Poor concentration
- Poor memory
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Racing heart, breathlessness and rapid breathing
- Feeling hot and flushed, excessive sweating
- Dry mouth, churning stomach
- Diarrhoea and digestive problems
- Frequent desire to use toilet
- Muscle tension
- Restlessness, tiredness, sleep difficulties, headaches
- Increased drinking or smoking
- Over eating, loss of appetite
- Loss of interest in sex
- Self-neglect