Each brigade or workplace has a process for inducting new members. Amongst the standard processes and procedures, preparing a person for challenges they may encounter helps to eliminate or reduce psychological risk.
In a brigade, it might be about:
- Briefing a potential member about the types of incidents that your brigade turns out too. Remember to hold off on providing too many gory details.
- Briefing an operational member on what their role might be responding to particular incidents. E.g. “during and MVA, it would be likely you’d be required to…….”
- Briefing a non-operational members on the things they might see or hear when brigades return from an incident E.g. “it’s likely our members will run a debrief session after returning from an EMR job”
In a workplace, it might be about:
- Briefing the member about the types of interactions they’ll have with the public or brigade members.
- Briefing the member about the types of conversations that they might overhear in the course of their role relating to potentially traumatic incidents
If you prepare people in advance for things that may be distressing, they will generally respond in a more effective and positive way than if they had been unprepared. These are some small ways to ensure the psychological safety of members being inducted into CFA. For more information visit the Welfare Services page on BOL, Intranet or CFA public website.
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