Registration: This is a FREE training open to any sworn officer, dispatcher or their spouses/significant others. To register for this training, please click
here.
Overall Goal of the Training: Restoring and refocusing after critical or cumulative stress events. This is a
FREE experiential workshop for public safety professionals who have "been there". Despite the best support immediately following a critical incident, there can be long lasting effects. Going through a critical incident is like crossing a fence, with no opportunity to jump back. A critical incident can rupture an individual's basic worldview. You are vulnerable and have to emotionally come to grips with a reality that the uninitiated cannot understand. The job, the street, and one's weapon are perceived differently. The PCIS will provide education on trauma, patterns of resolution, and field-tested coping strategies to promote recovery and resilience. Peer support is an important element of the PCIS. Discussion of incidents with fellow law enforcement professionals who have "been there" promotes normalization and recovery. This format has been in use by the FBI for over 25 years.
Virginia Partial In-service Credit is available.
What is a Critical Incident? A Critical Incident is any event that results in an overwhelming sense of vulnerability and/or loss of control. These include line of duty shootings, getting shot or seriously hurt on the job, high speed pursuits that end in tragedy, events that bring prolonged and critical media attention, death/serious injuries of children, personal tragedies and the like. The PCIS is an excellent form of follow-up after CISM debriefings have occurred, but it is not necessary to have participated in a debriefing to attend.
What will I get out of this? An opportunity to share one's experience with one's peers, give and receive support, sessions with public safety related mental health professionals utilizing proven trauma recovery methods, and learn coping strategies that will enable recovery from past critical incidents and strengthen one's ability to deal with future incidents.
This program is open to any sworn officer, dispatcher or their spouses/significant others.
For more information on VALEAP or any of their programs, please visit their website at
http://valeap.org/.