The manner and timeliness in which a company handles a Critical Incident is vital and of strategic importance. It can have serious implications for the future of associated staff members and the subsequently the company.

How is a Critical Incident defined?

A Critical Incident can be characterised by any actual or alleged event, situation or circumstances, whether actualised or near miss that has the potential to or create a significant risk of substantial harm to physical or mental health, safety, well being, causes illness, injury or death to an individual or group.

Critical Incidents may include:

• Deaths that have occurred in the workplace. This can be represented in the form of an individual or multiple fatalities.
• Injury or injuries that have occurred in the workplace. This can be represented in the form of an individual or multiple individuals incurring an injury and in varying levels of severity between injured parties.
• The onset of illnesses or conditions due to a pandemic or, contamination type of event. Examples of these types of events can include situations where biological, chemical or radiological agents are involved.
• If an accident has occurred or an accident is narrowly missed from the perspective of the individual/s involved in the accident and the individual/s witnessing the accident
• Associated trauma experienced or bystander witnessing the trauma of any of the above incidents

We can provide the following:

• Timely support for your organisation in the event of a Critical Incident

• Access to qualified and trained psychologists to assist your employees to reduce the impact of the onset and management of the symptoms of trauma

* Trained psychological support reduces impact and risk to the employee from the initial traumatic experience and the subsequent breakdown in the relationship between the survivor and his social environment. As onset and development trauma may occur chronologically and appears in several stages, the ability to access psychological support promptly improves the ability to manage the complex mental health concerns that arise in the period after a Critical Incident. This ranges from a period of a month to years depending on a constellation of factors.

• Access to a team of registered psychologists through telehealth and if required at the site of the Critical Incident. We also have partnerships with medical clinics to provide any necessary medical interventions
• Preventative measures and planning for Critical Incidents that your company’s staff, managers, and respective family members of impacted personnel could potentially be involved in

• Initial incident review and subsequent psychology sessions for impacted personnel

• Evaluation of mental health risks within current procedures, processes and protocols, subsequent consultation with senior management to review and mitigate any risks and, implementation of solutions and amendments

• Ensuring that current occupational health & safety coordination and documentation considers mental health care of your personnel adequately

The types of outcomes that you can expect from Chat Clinic’s Critical Incident based services:

• A comprehensive review of current organisational policies on Critical Incidents and if necessary development of strategic organisational policies with a focus on the mental health well being of your personnel
• Reducing the organisation’s and employee’s liability, trauma and impact from a mental health and interpersonal perspective as a result of a Critical Incident
• The development of standard operating procedures which are easy to understand, integrate and apply, serving as a plus point for retaining talent
• Being able to evaluate and minimise the impact of trauma exposure amongst your company’s staff, while significantly reducing the frequency and duration of Critical Incidents
• Empowering managers and staff with a structured and comprehensive strategy to manage Critical Incidents and being able to foresee and minimise the risk of liability due to worker’s compensation issues
• Improvements in the effectiveness, productivity and capability of your company’s workforce through the implementation of strategies and processes to minimise Critical Incidents