Critical Incident Stress Syndrome 1

SARBC

Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia

Critical Incident Stress Syndrome (CISS) is a very real and potentially fatal danger to search and rescue personnel. It can cause the break up of families, loss of jobs, and ???. That's the bad news; the good news is that it can be treated with few complications if recognized and treated early.

CISS is the adverse psychological and/or physiological reaction to a stressful incident. Search and Rescue personnel are particularly susceptible to this due to the very nature of their job.

Stress does have a cumulative effect on the body. Someone who has been involved in numerous incidents without any lasting complications may suddenly develop the signs and symptoms of a stress reaction. Another example of the cumulative effect of stress is an individual who is experiencing other stressors such as marital problems, problems with children, or a recent death of a friend or relative, and who then is called out for a SAR incident. He may develop the signs and symptoms of a stress reaction in what may seem a particularly uneventful incident.

People who are unprepared for the physical and mental strain of a SAR incident are particularly susceptible.

In an incident where a particularly stressful situation develops, SAR people are at risk. An incident involving a mutilated or decomposing body, the death or serious injury of a fellow searcher or a politically frustrating situation may all lead to CISS.

Everyone involved in a SAR incident has the responsibility to be alert for the signs and symptoms of a stress reaction in him/herself and in fellow searchers. The Team Leader (TL) must be alert for signs of a stress reaction in his/her team members. The team debriefing is an opportune time to assess the searchers. The TL must pass any suspicions on to the TL debriefer. The person debriefing the TL must also be alert for signs and symptoms or CISS in the TL and pass that information along to the Ops Officer.