When confronted by a traumatic event, our coping mechanisms are stretched to the limit. That’s when we need the help of a trauma support service. A traumatic event is any incident, either unexpected in itself or unexpected in its degree of impact, that has the potential to overwhelm us and shut down our coping abilities - either at the scene or later.
The key issue is the impact of the event. A little stress is normal and most of us need it - in fact, we have to have everyday stress or we don’t function. However, stress related to a traumatic event has the potential to overwhelm our coping strategies altogether.
Traumatic events services are part of a standard of care that recognises people are complex emotional creatures who may suffer long-term effects from a traumatic event.
Essentially, such services provide psychological first-aid. A traumatic event will often leave people vulnerable to experiencing unexpected emotional trauma any time that associative triggers - such as a sight, a sound, a touch, a smell or a taste -are set off. A traumatic event service uses trained staff to help defuse these events so people are less vulnerable to future triggers.
The first part of Vitae’s trauma support service takes place before any event occurs - helping organisations put in place the policy and procedures for the care of staff in the event of an incident. It is important that such policies are written down and are owned and understood by the organisation - and that everyone knows how to activate the service should the need arise.
If a traumatic event does occur, the process is a simple one:
The defusing process is designed to help people stabilise their emotions and return to their normal state of emotional wellbeing as soon as possible. Acknowledging the impacts of an event is a key part of this process. Trauma support staff allow people to talk about the event, and provide a supportive ear and information about other support services if necessary.
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