Critical Incidents

Below are Critical Incidents in the Fire and EMS service:

LODD

Serious injury to a co-worker

Unexpected death of a co-worker

Unexpected death of a patient

Particularly gruesome incident

Dismemberment and/or large loss of blood

Severely burned patient

Incidents involving death or serious injury/illness of a young child

Suicide of a co-worker or a patient

Murder/suicide

Assaults on self or others

Explicit threats of assault on first responders

Serious injury to a patient as a result of department operations

Patient dies as a result of clinical error

Catastrophic medical equipment failure

Working under threatening conditions including biological, radiological, chemical, fire, and explosive

Prolonged exposure to death and dying

Incidents with particularly strong sensory stimuli (e.g. smell of blood, decomp)

Knowing the victim

Identifying with the victim

Victim is similar in age/appearance to you or a loved one

Multiple casualty incidents

Other traumatic incidents within a short period of time

Prolonged resuscitation with negative outcome

Dealing with hysterical and demanding family members

Any incident that has compromised or could comprise one or more person’s ability to function

Note: If you are not certain if you or your organization has been exposed to a critical incident, you are encouraged to contact Dr. Brown for a telephone consult. He will help you assess the incident to determine what response might be appropriate.