CRISIS INTERVENTION STRATEGY

SCHOOL CRISIS INTERVENTION/TEAM

1) RESPONSE COORDINATOR ! - sets up the ENTIRE TEAM and ALL MEETINGS (does not run the mtgs) ! (takes about 20 minutes to set up everyone/everything) ! - meets with the Principal ! ! - I"m here to help you in any way I can- however I am also here to set up ! ! ! a crisis intervention team, so I need to ask you some questions... ! ! - Tone and speech with principal must be commanding and response ! ! ! ! ! coordinator must QUICKLY ASSESS psychological state of principal ! - After initial meeting is set up with all faculty, and Crisis Intervention Coordinator is set, ! response coordinator sets up the media liaison, community medical liaison, and parent liaison. ! - has a command center room ! - Response coordinator has the plan and puts people in place ! - Principal needs to IMMEDIATELY call a faculty meeting/ ALL STAFF (if a principal feels ! teachers are overwhelmed/experienced too much, they should meet individually/separately) ! 2) CRISIS INTERVENTION COORDINATOR ! - In charge of putting together all !interventions and assessment ! - puts together Crisis Intervention Team: ! ! -Psychologists, Counselors, Psychiatrists, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS ! ! - See individually: Eyewitnesses, Students identied by staff, etc. and do ! ! ! ! CRISIS counseling ! 3) MEDIA COORDINATOR/LIAISON* ! *No one talks to anybody-- reporters spread rumors which cause suicides ! - closely watches the news and is in charge of all information ! - works with assistants to develop statement to release to the media ! -NO ONE TALKS TO THE MEDIA EXCEPT THIS TEAM

4) COMMUNITY MEDICAL LIAISON ! - communicates with the hospital via hospital reports (what really happened and how much can ! ! we share?) ! - reiterates to parents EXACTLY what the ER Physician stated (no more/no less; just the facts, ! ! no opinions*) ! - involved in mental health triage (a system of assessment deciding who needs attn rst and/or ! ! most) ! *Info given in a crisis= minimalist truth

CRISIS INTERVENTION STRATEGY

5) PARENT LIAISON ! - communicates directly with all school parents ! - brings in translators immediately (very often in a crisis people regress to their 1st language) ! - communicates with ALL the other members of the team, because parents want !to know ! everything ! - informally psychologically evaluates parents to see who is in distress

6) SECURITY LIAISON ! - communicates with police, FD, etc. ! - in charge of safety of students and staff in school ! - constantly checks safety of everyone in school (does not rely on police) ! - communicates regularly with media regarding safety ! - communicates with parent liaison regarding safety

RESPONSE COORDINATOR+ PRINCIPAL CALL A MEETING: ! -2 meeting rooms (big meeting run by intervention coordinator and small room ! ! ! ! for ancillary meeting run by mental health interventionist) ! ! ! - small room for distressed teachers/staff ! ! ! - a large group single intervention ! - give them information; tell them what happened, what is happening next, etc. (what is ! ! presented to media, what info from hospital) Warn teachers: DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE ABOUT THIS CRISIS EXCEPT EACH OTHER-! ! DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA OR PARENTS ! ! (focusing on rumors will just make the situation worse) ! - No one is to enter the school with a cell phone; report this to security immediately ! - Message board posted: every piece of new info we get we put on that wall ! - Tell teachers that when students come in, do not teach regular subject, but bring up what ! happened and ask students what they think and how they feel about it; get students to tell ! the story and how they felt; Note/Write down students who look particularly distressed - Classes/Teachers should stay on the crisis topic for as long as the students need (it might take even a week of straight processing in classes); Don"t normalize things too soon.