ES 115 Crisis Intervention

Lecture Hours: 3
Credits: 3

Provides a theoretical background for understanding crisis intervention and offers an arena to experience a variety of crisis management styles. Assists the emergency service worker or health care provider to evaluate their emotional reactions and methods of coping in order to stay healthy on the job.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Assess their stress levels and coping skills associated with personal and job related factors.
Describe how intervention in crisis situations including mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, child abuse, suicide, and battering might affect the health care provider.
Compare and contrast the concepts of balance and resiliency and how they relate to self-care, promoting healthy behaviors and responses germane to the burnout syndrome.
Discuss the impact of violence on community and the field of medicine.
Examine the concept of power and powerlessness of the health care provider and/or the patient or recipient(s) of EMS services.
Examine personal biases and prejudices in order to develop a more accepting, tolerant and respectful approach to human diversity.
Propose methods of interacting with persons related to a crisis incident and with victims of trauma, illness, or injury.
Discuss behavior and interactions for working a dying patient and their families in a variety of cultural settings.
Describe the most effective standard principles and procedures when interacting in crisis situations.

Content Outline

Theoretical Background of Crisis Intervention
- Develop working definitions
- Assessment techniques
- Individualize style of communications
- Concepts of power, hope, and comfort
  - Control
  - Therapeutic boundaries
- Issues of fear, anger, powerlessness, helplessness
  - De-escalation
  - Collaboration
Self-Care
- Stress management, and preventing burnout
- Concepts of hardiness, resilience, and balance
- Personal stress and coping skills evaluation
- Explore additional healthy coping skills
  - Critical incident stress debriefing
  - Others
Specific Crisis Situations
- Minor, and major illness and injury
- Acute, and chronic illness
- Culturally and socially diverse situations
- Death and dying
- Mental illness
- Depression and suicide
- Homelessness
- Potential violent patients and situations
- Domestic violence
- Children’s issues
- Alcohol and substance abuse