Managing critical incident stress at Grand Forks Published Aug. 2, 2007 By Behavioral Health Services Flight 319th Medical Group GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Exposure to a traumatic event may lead to long-term problems with sleep, depression and/or nervousness. Personally experiencing a traumatic event, such as a death of a friend or loved one, an injury, a disaster or witnessing a fatal accident may leave a deep impact. Critical Incident Stress Management services provide assistance to those who've experienced such trauma. Critical incident debriefings were originally developed in order to help firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other emergency responders deal with their emotional recovery from a critical incident, but CISM also aims to help individuals, families, organizations, neighborhoods and even communities. The Air Force calls this Traumatic Stress Response. A TSR debriefing occurs when a variety of helping professionals come together to talk with those, generally in small groups of people, who may be directly impacted by a traumatic event. The team will address and provide support for emotions and reactions to the incident. People who participate in a debriefing are often provided additional information and resources so they know where to seek further support. At Grand Forks Air Force Base, TSR services can be obtained by calling the TSR team chief at 747-4460 during the duty day or by calling the Command Post at 747-6771 after duty hours. For additional information, contact Behavioral Health at 747 - 4460. You may also find these online resources helpful: www.criticalincidentstress.com and www.cope-inc.com.