Daily throughout VCH incidents occur that are atypical to the work routine. These events may be traumatic and can cause stress to workers. Aside from an organizational review that is conducted in many of these situations there is another very  important confidential critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) that can be held. This debriefing focuses on the emotional side of the experience and creates an opportunity  for those involved to talk about their experience of the adverse event and receive the support of others. These CISDs have healing effects. They reduce isolation, increase the sense of team and allow for recognition of going through something together. Offered through EFAP, VCH workers can access CISD support by calling 1800-505-4929.

Take a look at this scenario

Rajid* was in charge of the group and it was a busy day. There were lots of people coming in for help and Rajid knew that there may be waits. His anxiety was growing. Suddenly Rajid was notified of a tragedy that had occurred nearby. Those affected would be brought to his facility for treatment and as soon as he heard this they began arriving.

_{*The name Rajid and the sample scenario do not relate to any actual person or event. EFAP services are confidential.} 

For the next 48 hours Rajid and his staff worked full on. The patient volume was high. Families were arriving upset wanting news. There were news media arriving looking for information. Eventually things began to settle. Rajid knew his staff were used to trauma but this volume and acuity was much greater than usual and there had been many adverse events that his staff had had to manage. He wanted to support his exhausted team who were clearly affected by this tragedy. What could he do?

Good news

VCH provides critical incident stress debriefings  24/7 through the EFAP program at 1-800-505-4929. Rajid could call this number and confidentially speak with an EFAP senior critical incident stress debriefer who would walk through the situation with him. EFAP would work with Rajid in the moment to design a custom critical incident response plan.

EFAP would:

• first check in with Rajid to see how he is doing,
• help him to organize when a debriefing might need to happen,
• help him determine who needs to be at the debriefing, and
• coach him on how to properly check in with his staff after an incident and let them know there is help available through EFAP.
• Work with Rajid to arrange  a voluntary  critical incident stress debriefing to take place  in his work area.   As the leader,  Rajid would be invited to attend and   introduce the session and then leave the team to have a chance as a group to confidentially debrief their feelings and  experience with the  EFAP senior level clinician  who would run the session.

If you encounter an adverse upsetting event in your work area  and require a CISD or if you are a supervisory person and would like to participate in training on how to check in with your staff after an adverse and upsetting event, call EFAP at 1-800-505-4929. We are here to help.

More about EFAP

EFAP offers confidential  complementary counselling and consultation services for individual, couple, family and workplace issues. Counselling can be in person, by phone , by e-counselling (secure email) or through the Beating the Blues program—an interactive confidential online program for the treatment of anxiety and depression.

EFAP also provides free services aimed at issue prevention, including: A range of new wellness services,  Lifehub—a comprehensive on line wellness tool, financial counseling, legal consultation, and debriefing following a major change or incident.

Workplace groups can take advantage of a range of workshops such as teambuilding and communication skills.

EFAP is working

For those who have used EFAP, it has been a huge success with an average overall client satisfaction rating of 4.55 out of 5 and 80% reduction in distress levels.  The program is free and completely confidential. The program tracks the reported client distress levels including depression and anxiety, and those rates are coming down as the utilization of EFAP goes up.

Access

The Employee & Family Assistance Program is completely free and confidential for VCH employees and their immediate family members. You can access the program by calling 604-872-4929 or toll-free 1-800-505-4929.