Air Force Critical Incident Stress Management outreach with Pentagon staff after the terrorist attack

Abstract

This article describes the Critical Incident Stress Management outreach to Pentagon staff conducted after the terrorist attack by a team of Air Force mental health and chaplain personnel. Also discussed are lessons learned from the author's experience while leading the mental health component and working in a larger tri-service outreach. Finally, the observed impacts of the outreach effort are examined along with recommendations for future postcritical incident outreach efforts.