Critical incidents are "out of the ordinary" events which have the potential to cause extreme distress or trauma, for example, assault, armed robbery, major accidents, sudden death, terrorism or major disaster.

When these occur in the workplace, the employer needs to know how best to respond to be of real help, particularly as most incidents are unexpected, leaving people and organisations exposed emotionally and practically, even when there are operational disaster recovery processes in place.

And although everyone reacts differently, critical incidents have the potential to affect a wide variety of people - staff, customers, suppliers, people's families - whether directly or indirectly involved.  The life changing effects of a traumatic event can be devastating, seriously impairing individuals and organisations in their ability to function normally - sometimes even many years after the incident.  Hence professional Critical Incident Support (CIS) aims to:

• Lessen the impact and distress caused by the trauma;
• Assess the effects on people and ensure access to the very best care and support;
• Reassure employees and the wider community of the organisation's concern for their well-being;
• Promote team cohesiveness and reduce disharmony when people or tempers are fragile;
• Reduce post incident absenteeism and aid in prompt recovery;
• Provide expert support and guidance to HR and management in dealing with the incident, the staff, the community and the future;
• Aid in the fulfilment of the employer's duty of care.

Good CIS addresses how the whole organisation and its people handle incidents. We can provide, as appropriate, psychological support and re-building interventions to individuals, teams, groups, managers and the wider organisation.  This might include home visits, 1:1 counselling, group or team meetings, stress defusing workshops, information and contacts with other specialist organisations - we will make a rapid assessment of what’s needed and ensure that the right support gets to you and your people at the right time.

Just click here for a complimentary copy of our guidelines on managing critical incidents or contact us in confidence to find out more about how we can support in times of crisis, at any location in the UK.