Critical Incident Stress Debriefings Needed for Jan. 6 Responding Officers

Critical Incident Stress Debriefings are nothing new in the world of first responding agencies. The concept has been around for many years. Typically they are used when fire, police or Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff respond to some horrific incident. This could be a significant loss of life — number of people, a child's death or perhaps some really gruesome scene, e.g. a car-semi-truck crash for instance. 

The Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol was an incident that was generally a reverse of what a normal debrief might require. In the case of that event, it was about the officers there fearing for their own lives and, for minority officers, having to endure racial epitaphs being hurled at them. Listen to this The Daily podcast: "'I Thought I Was Going to Die': A Capitol Police Officer Recounts Jan. ‪6‬."

The stress of the day was evident in that two officers who responded that day committed suicide only days after the event. 

As emergency managers we are typically not in the middle of the fray, so it can give us time to think and consider what will be needed in the aftermath of an incident. Make a mental note that the need for CISD and follow-on counselling might be needed by the agencies and people who you support.