Critical Incident Stress Management Team

Idaho
Department of
Correction

Standard
Operating
Procedure
Title:
Critical Incident Stress Management Team

Page:
1 of 7

Control Number:
112.01.01.002
Version:
2.0
Adopted:
02-02-2015

IDOC Data Sensitivity Classification - L3 Restricted
Henry Atencio, deputy director, approved this document on 03/02/2015.
Open to the public: Yes
SCOPE
This standard operating procedure applies to all staff members working in correctional
facilities (correctional facilities includes prisons and community reentry centers, issues
specific to either a prison or CRC will be cited as such), and district probation and parole
offices.
Revision Summary
Revision date (03/02/2015) version 2.0: Removed language regarding special approval for
unscheduled absence issues.
Previous revisions dated: 2/17/2015
Previous revisions dated: Critical Incident Response, 507.04.01.000 07/10/2002 and Critical
Incident Stress Debriefing, 507.02.01.001.06 12/13/2002.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Board of Correction IDAPA Rule Number ............................................................................. 2
Policy Control Number 112................................................................................................... 2
Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 2
Responsibility ....................................................................................................................... 2
Standard Procedures ........................................................................................................... 2
1. CISMT Mission Statement ........................................................................................... 2
2. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Requirements ......................................................... 2
3. Regional Critical Incident Stress Management Teams ................................................. 3
4. CISMT Membership Criteria, Recruitment, and Selection ............................................ 3
5. CISMT Leadership Responsibilities ............................................................................. 5
6. Training ........................................................................................................................ 5
7. Critical Incident Stress Management Referral Process ................................................ 6
8. Non-IDOC Requests .................................................................................................... 7
Control Number:
112.01.01.002
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Title:
Critical Incident Stress Management
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Idaho Department of Correction
IDOC Data Sensitivity Classification - L3 Restricted
9. CISMT Retention ......................................................................................................... 7
Definitions ............................................................................................................................ 7
References ........................................................................................................................... 7
BOARD OF CORRECTION IDAPA RULE NUMBER
None
POLICY CONTROL NUMBER 112
Emergency Response and Specialty Teams
PURPOSE
This standard operating procedure establishes processes to assist employees who have
been involved in a crisis, traumatic event, or tragedy by providing information, education,
and, when applicable, referral to an employee assistant program (EAP). Appropriate
interventions can help employees affected by such an event.
This standard operating procedure establishes procedures for the selection of critical
incident stress management team members (CISMT), their training, and the implementation
and use of the critical incident management process.
RESPONSIBILITY
The chiefs of the division of prisons and the division of probation and parole are responsible
to implement this standard operating procedure.
STANDARD PROCEDURES
1. CISMT Mission Statement
To minimize the potentially harmful stress-related symptoms associated with critical
incidents, affecting first responders and the community, through education and timely
confidential crisis intervention that is empathic and respectful toward all involved.
2. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Requirements
The prisons division emergency coordinator (emergency coordinator) maintains a critical
incident stress-debriefing (CISD) manual and ensures that it is available to applicable
department leadership and CISMT members.
The CISMT uses International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) approved
guidelines and processes. CISMT uses two levels of intervention, defusing and debriefing,
based on the number of people involved and the type of event. Based on training and
experience, CISM team leaders, in consultation with facility or district and department
leadership, determine the level of intervention for each incident.
A critical incident stress defusing/debriefing is required for all employees involved in a critical
incident or traumatic event, and for any employee referred by a supervisor or manager.
However, if an employee declines to participate in a defusing/debriefing, the CISMT leader
is required to advise the applicable facility head or manager. The facility head or manager is
responsible follow up with the employee and evaluate if further intervention or other action is
needed.
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Idaho Department of Correction
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The department does not use a critical incident stress defusing/debriefing as an operational
critique or for departmental disciplinary or investigative procedures. However, the IDOC may
determine that the event warrants a serious incident review (SIR), internal review, or other
investigation. In addition, the IDOC does not withhold information that constitutes criminal
evidence from law enforcement investigators or criminal proceedings.
Although CISD provides a confidential stress-debriefing process, the department recognizes
that on occasion complete confidentiality cannot be maintained. If an individual poses a risk
to himself or others or maybe unable to safely perform the duties of the job, or if the
information is considered evidence of a crime, the CISMT is responsible for sharing
information with administrative staff, individual-assigned counselors, law enforcement, or
doctors when it is appropriate and necessary to do so.
It is not the role of the CISMT to provide continuing counseling services. When appropriate,
CISMT members should refer staff to the EAP.
CISMT members have no authority to approve time off to an employee. An employee’s
leave must be approved in accordance with Paid Leaves, SOP 206.07.01.001.
If a member of a CISMT believes an employee may have difficulty in the performance of his
job duties because of a critical incident, the team member must notify the CISM team leader
who notifies the facility head. The facility head contacts human resources staff.
3. Regional Critical Incident Stress Management Teams
The department maintains a CISMT in each of the regions identified:
• Northern Region: ICI-O, NICI, and probation and parole districts 1 and 2
• Southern Region: Nampa CRC, East Boise CRC, Treasure Valley CRC, SBWCC,
IMSI, ISCI, ISCC, SICI, and probation and parole districts 3 and 4 and central office
• Eastern Region: IFCRC, PWCC, SAWC, and probation and parole districts 5, 6, and
7
Regional CISMTs consist of the following number of IDOC staff
• Southern Idaho region: 22
• Northern Idaho region: 12
• Eastern Idaho region: 15
4. CISMT Membership Criteria, Recruitment, and Selection
The emergency coordinator oversees all the CISMTs in accordance with this standard
operating procedure.
Each team must have one mental health professional. If for any reason this team member is
not available for a debriefing, the department may use a mental health professional from
another CISMT or a mental health professional from the community.
CISMT Membership Criteria
To be considered for CISMT membership, all applicants must meet the following criteria:
• Temporary employees and employees on entrance probation are not eligible for
CISMT membership
• No disciplinary action (see Corrective and Disciplinary Action, SOP 205.07.01.001)
pending or within the last 12 months
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Idaho Department of Correction
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• Most recent performance review (see Performance Management, SOP
222.07.01.001,) most recent employee performance review must be achieves
performance standards(APS) or higher
CISMT Participation Requirements
CISMT members must provide their work phone numbers, personal phone numbers, and
personal email addresses (if available) to the regional team leader when requested, or at
a minimum once a quarter, and notify the regional team leader if a change occurs.
CISMT members must participate in all CISM callouts to respond to a debriefing or
defusing. Exceptions to mandatory participation include pre-planned personal leave,
scheduled or unscheduled sick leave, and a personal or work emergency. If a CISMT
member is not able to participate in a callout, he must provide the regional team leader
with one of these reasons. Failure to participate in callouts as requested without an
approved reason is grounds for removal from the team.
After the initial selection, each year before the last quarterly training, all CISMT members
must obtain signed approval from their immediate supervisor and facility head or
manager supporting continued CISMT participation. The written approval is forwarded to
the regional CISMT leader.
To meet the minimum requirements of the ICISF model, individuals from the community
may be added as adjunct members for community call-outs.
Process Steps: Recruitment and Selection
The following steps are used to recruit and select CISMT members.
Functional Roles and
Responsibilities Step Tasks
Emergency
Coordinator
1 Notify the affected facilities and the probation and parole
divisions that CISMT members are needed.
2
Provide the affected facilities and the probation and parole
divisions with an announcement that contains the
following:
• Deadline for application submission
• CISMT membership criteria
Facility Heads and
District Managers
3
Within three business days:
• Post the announcement (email, physically post,
photocopies, etc.).
• Inform those interested staff members to complete
a Specialty Team Application.
4
• Collect and review the applications.
• Forward the applications approved for the selection
process to the applicable regional CISMT leader.
Regional CISMT
Leader 5
In conjunction with the emergency coordinator:
• Develop interview questions.
• Select an interview panel.
• Arrange interviews with applicants.
Interview Panel 6 Conduct the interviews and submit recommendations to
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Idaho Department of Correction
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Functional Roles and
Responsibilities Step Tasks
the applicable division deputy chief or designee.
Prisons Division
Deputy Chief (or
Designee)
7
• Review the recommendations.
• Select CISMT members.
• Forward the applications to the emergency
coordinator.
Emergency
Coordinator 8
• Make photocopies or scanned PDFs and forward them
to the applicable regional CISMT leader.
• File the applications that have the original signatures in
the Prisons Division administration area.
Regional CISMT
Leader 9
• Notify the applicants of their selection or non-selection.
• File the photocopy of the application in the applicant’s
CISMT file and maintain it at the facility.
5. CISMT Leadership Responsibilities
Applicable regional CISMT leaders are responsible for:
• Ensuring that CISMT members are trained and capable of carrying out assigned
tasks with minimal supervision
• Ensuring the CISMT remains in a high state of morale and operational readiness
• Directing all activities of the CISMT in both training and actual operations
• Coordinating with the emergency coordinator on issues concerning training and
CISMT development
• Notifying the emergency coordinator of any activations
• Sending an updated list of CISMT members to the affected facility heads and/or
district managers when a change in CISMT membership occurs
• Maintain a CISMT file for each team member
• Coordinating instructions to CISMT members responding to a callout
• Coordinating CISMT activities in accordance with the incident commander's (or the
agency administrator’s) instructions when the CISMT is activated (see section 7);
• Maintaining a log of all defusings and debriefings conducted within the region
• Submitting logs quarterly to the emergency coordinator
• Monitoring performance of all assigned CISMT members during CISMT activities
6. Training
CISMT members are responsible to obtain permission from their immediate supervisor and
notify their scheduling sergeant (if applicable) in advance of CISMT training. If travel is
needed, CISMT members are responsible for arranging travel in accordance with Official
Travel by Department of Correction Employees, Policy 121. Team members are responsible
for managing their schedules in a manner that ensures the highest likelihood of attendance.
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Idaho Department of Correction
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Attendance and Participation
CISMT members must attend a minimum of 24 hours of training annually. Typically,
eight hours of training is provided quarterly. In addition, members can attend local
training provided other agencies when applicable.
CISMT members must attend and participate in all aspects of the training or practice,
unless the regional CISMT leader approves the absence prior to the event. If a CISMT
member consistently fails to participate in training/practice, his regional CISMT leader
and emergency coordinator may conduct a status review and consult as needed with the
facility head or manager.
New CISMT members must do the following:
• Attend a mandatory 16 hour initial training session
• Demonstrate an understanding of the CISM debriefing process and the parameters
of the team member support role
• Receive certification in the Dr. Jeffrey T. Mitchell Model approved by the ICISF
7. Critical Incident Stress Management Referral Process
When a critical incident, traumatic event, or tragedy occurs, the following steps describe how
to activate and use the CISMT:
Functional Roles and
Responsibilities Step Tasks
District Manager or
Facility Head and
CISMT Member 1
Within 24 hours of the conclusion of the event, assess the
need and level of response for CISM, complete a list of all
staff involved or affected by the event, and forward the
information to a CISM team member or regional team
leader. The CSIM team member or regional team leader
makes the final determination for level of intervention.
• Notify the chief of the affected division of the level of
response
• If a CIS defusing is the appropriate response,
continue to step 2
• If a CIS debriefing is appropriate, skip to step 3
CISMT Member 2
• Conduct a defusing with all affected and/or referred
staff and
• Provide the regional CISMT leader with date, time, and
number of individuals involved (the process ends here),
unless you determine that a debriefing is required
(continue to step 3).
CISMT Regional Team
Leader
3
Within 48 hours (unless the applicable division chief
approves an extension), mobilize CISMT members; and
conduct a debriefing with all affected and/or referred staff.
4 Notify the chief of affected division at the conclusion of the
defusing or debriefing.
Control Number:
112.01.01.002
Version:
2.0
Title:
Critical Incident Stress Management
Team
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Idaho Department of Correction
IDOC Data Sensitivity Classification - L3 Restricted
8. Non-IDOC Requests
Department CISMT members do not provide services to outside agencies without approval
from the chief or designee of the affected division. If the applicable division chief is
unavailable, approval may also be obtained by contacting the deputy director or central
office administrative duty officer.
9. CISMT Retention
Applying for and continued participation on the CISMT is voluntary
CISMT members serve at the discretion of the regional CISMT leader. The regional CISMT
leaders retain the responsibility to remove personnel from active membership, upon
approval of the emergency coordinator, in consultation with the facility head or manager, for
performance issues or inappropriate conduct.
DEFINITIONS
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: A seven-phase process that occurs two to 14 days
after a critical incident, usually lasting between 1.5 to 3 hours, designed to mitigate acute
symptoms, assess the need for follow-up, and provide a sense of post-crisis psychological
closure if possible.
Critical Incident Stress Defusing: A three-phase process that occurs within hours of a
critical incident, usually lasting 45 minutes to one hour, designed for assessment, triaging,
and acute symptom mitigation.
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM): The process by which a variety of planning
and educational support activities is utilized as interventions to reduce serious and/or long-
term stress reactions to a critical incident.
Critical Incident Stress Management Team (CISMT): A specialty team of approved
individuals selected by the IDOC to assist staff and others involved or affected by a critical
incident or traumatic event.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): A benefit provided to state employees to provide
counseling services at no cost to deal with any issues that may be affecting their
performance on the job.
REFERENCES
Specialty Teams Application

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