Post Incident Debriefing

Course Content

Research suggests that "victims" of attack often experience the reaction of colleagues and their employing agency as the most distressing aspect of an assaultive experience.

Services to individuals with challenging behaviour operate within a complex framework of law and regulation. Balancing the rights of service users with those of staff can be a complex matter, with considerable penalties for employers judged as non conformant with required standards. No where are these tensions more vividly highlighted than in the employers response to an employees distress after an assault.

The manner in which staff are de briefed and the tensions between employee support and ensuring accountability, require a balancing act on the part of the employer. Regrettably a growing volume of research and public inquiry reports highlight that services supporting people with challenging behaviour often face two problems. Violence from service users and violence from staff. Hence ensuring the transparency of practice remains a key element of effective service delivery.

Effective post incident de briefing can also play a fundamental role in ensuring that services monitor, audit and update their safety systems, thus preventing future incidents and damaging litigation. Translating the concept of the “Learning Organisation” from aspiration to reality.

Regrettably de briefing, even where it is undertaken, is poorly understood. Specific, widely used models are actually advised against by research and statements from regulatory bodies. A development with considerable implications for agency liability.

CALM Post Incident De Briefing training courses allow employers to navigate through these complex issues to ensure an effective system of practice which addresses the rights of all stakeholders and enables organisations to support staff and to effectively monitor the effectiveness of their safety systems.