Critical incidents and critical incident stress management (CISM) - An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) perspective

Abstract

Employees are increasingly becoming victims of critical incidents. From a systems theory point of view, it is necessary to acknowledge the impact of critical incidents not only on the personal life of the employee, but on the workplace itself. Employees respond differently to critical incidents, which makes it even more complicated when this reaches the point of requiring therapeutic intervention. The most common response to critical incidents may be the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. This reality requires management - through the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - to be able to effectively deal with such critical incidents.