Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: An Examination of Public Services Personnel and Their Responses to Critical Incident Stress

Abstract

This study is a secondary analysis of data obtained during a 1993 survey of public service personnel in a midwestern community. The purposes of the original research were to discover if differences exist in the responses of public service personnel who have cared for known versus unknown victims, to examine differences that may exist among the overall responses of those personnel working in a small urban area versus a metropolitan area, and to assess for familiarity with critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) services. The current analysis found an increase in symptomatology when the victim is known, with visualization being the most prominent symptom reported. Respondents who had cared for known victims reported much higher levels of grief. Personnel working in a larger rural service area reported a greater familiarity with CISD services. However, no significant differences were found in the responses of public service personnel who had cared for known versus unknown victims, when the variables of years of work experience, paid versus volunteer position, gender, and population size of service area were introduced.