CAP CISM Program Overview
CISM is inclusive of programs and intervention strategies designed to prevent stress effects as well as manage the recovery from significant experiential stressors. It includes pre-incident education, demobilizations, defusings, debriefings (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing), on-scene support services, Crisis Management Briefings, follow up services, professional referrals, crisis intervention training (with continuing education), individual and pastoral crisis intervention, and family support programs. It is the desire of Civil Air Patrol to support its membership by providing these services, and to assist all wings and regions in the development and subsequent implementation of CISM teams and programs within their borders.
PEER PROGRAMS are based on the premise that those who share a common predicament or experience can, by virtue of their particular understanding of that experience, facilitate healing and recovery in others. CISM is structured psychological debriefing, not counseling, which is incident specific to prevent or mitigate traumatic stress. Our intention is to provide support services, reactive (following major or prolonged incidents) and proactive (educationally), to those who have the potential to become secondary victims of trauma. Our team members are specially trained and individually selected to work in conjunction with mental health personnel to provide the highest possible level of care and confidentiality.
TRAINING is intensive, specific and two days in length, costing often $150 or more per person. Seminars are available throughout the country through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, with additional costs for travel and lodging (at each the member's expense). Civil Air Patrol presently has one member who is an ICISF Trained Trainer who will provide providing this course at a minimal cost to the membership. If if you would like to sponsor a dedicated course in your wing/ or region, please (contact Lt Col Sherry Jones, RN, EMTP at cism@cap.gov for further information and scheduling). The Basic CISM:Group Crisis Intervention course is necessary to qualify to apply for team membership for peers.
PROGRESS REPORT: We have determined a need for the program, gained administrative approval and received a protocol from National HQ in the form of the CAPR 60-5. NHQ has promised support through a CISM budget for each region (see NHQ DOS for details and support requests). We have recently been granted permission to work with outside agencies (secondarily) who assist CAP as we work side by side in response to emergency services operations. We are also pleased to have this web site for the provision of information and guidelines to the membership as those items develop for the CISM programs.
FUTURE PLANS: What would you like to see here? We are in process of developing a working group with representation from each region, a national email list (send email to cism@cap.gov to join), publications in CAP News and the ES forum (Ops Online: http://level2.cap.gov/visitors/programs/operations/ops_online/) to address the integration of CISM into ES operations, developing a national calendar to address CISM training dates, links to each region, wing and team web sties naming team members nationally, planning ahead for National Boards 2005 and more ...
LINKS: Our CISM page is now/will be linked to National Civil Air Patrol, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, AFRCC, and each wing in the Great Lakes Region. We are also linked to local sites
within some of the GLR coverage area. We have also requested and been granted links from many wings and regions across the nation.