Emotional First Aid: A Field Guide to Crisis Intervention and Psychological Survival - Softcover

James L Greenstone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1570253293 ISBN 13: 9781570253294

Publisher: Whole Person Associates, Inc, 2015

Synopsis

This timely publication is a field guide for behavioral health first responders and second responders in times of crisis intervention requiring emotional first aid.

More and more behavioral healthcare professionals and paraprofessionals are being asked to leave the relative comfort of their regular workplace to participate in crisis intervention and work in disaster scenarios, equipped with emotional first aid. First and second responders from novices to those with years of experience will find information to help them respond to emergencies more effectively and avoid compassion fatigue. Just because you may be ready and willing to go does not mean, in and of itself, that you are prepared to go. In this book you will find many of those preparation and response concerns addressed. Direction is given and many forms and guidelines are provided to help make your experience in crisis intervention and disaster response a rewarding one. Being unprepared will distract from your mission, from your satisfaction, and steer you away from responding in the future.

Highlights from Emotional First Aid include the following:

• Basic crisis intervention and emotional first aid procedures
• Force protection procedures and resiliency information
• Information for adjusting one s mindset to the disaster scenario
• What to take with you when you go
• Special concerns about which each responder should be aware
• Reproducible reference forms, tests, and tables for use before, during, and after responding to crisis situations and disasters.

Become a trusted, emotionally sharp professional responder by being prepared!

About this title

About the Author

Col James L. Greenstone, Ed.D, JD, DABECI

Dr. Greenstone has been in practice for almost fifty years in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, where he served as the Police Psychologist and Director of Psychological Services for the Fort Worth Police Department. He has been a police officer for thirty-five years. His work in Crisis Intervention and disaster response began in the mid 1960 s, and continues to this day. He is currently Professor of Disaster and Emergency Preparedness for Nova Southeastern University, College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, and a dispute mediator and arbitrator. He holds earned degrees in Clinical Psychology, Education, Criminal Justice and Law. He interned at the Devereux Foundation in Devon, Pennsylvania and received advanced training at Harvard Law School. Dr. Greenstone serves on a Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team as a Supervisory Mental Health Specialist; served as Colonel and Deputy Commander of the Texas State Guard Medical Brigade, Texas Military Forces. He is a Certified Crisis Intervener, a Certified Traumatologist, an Emergency Medical Technician, and a Master Peace Officer. Dr. Greenstone has earned the Master Military Emergency Management Specialist Qualification.
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Review

Chapters include:

Chapter 1 – Traumatic Crisis and Its Aftermath: What are we up against?
Understanding the situation is vital to providing useful Emotional First Aid.

Chapter 2 – What to Do and How to Do It: Heading the need for speed.
Respond now. Crisis intervention needs to be timely in order to be effective.

Chapter 3 – Crisis Triage: Attending to those who can benefit the most
Those who can survive must survive. The ability to triage effectively is paramount to providing effective crisis intervention.

Chapter 4 – Intervener Survival: Indispensable Self-Care.
Effective force protection must be in place if effective emotional first aid is to happen.

Chapter 5 – Victim and Sufferer Survival: Helping to bounce back.
Resiliency will out.

Chapter 6 – Altered Standards of Care: A subject no one wants to talk about.
Prepare yourself for this eventuality or don’t get involved in crisis intervention.

Chapter 7 – Hostile Environments: Knowing what to get into – Knowing when not to go.
Prepare for the worst.

Chapter 8 – Preparation: “The Orange Bag Denial”
Get your stuff together know so you are ready for the call. Emotional first aid can’t wait for you to prepare.

Chapter 9 – Response Protocols: Waiting for the Word
If you are not called, do not go.

Chapter 10 – Law and Order: SCU (Special Crisis Intervention Understanding)
Even responders must know and obey the law.

Chapter 11 – Interpreters and Their Effective Use: Speaking the Same Language
Accurate communication is foremost to effective crisis intervention.

Chapter 12 – A History of the Crisis Intervention Movement and Discipline
Remember the past to avoid repeating past mistakes.

This clearly written book is a valuable contribution to the complex field of Crisis Intervention. It provides a great deal of invaluable information, not only dealing with the emotional aspects of the process, but addressing it from a holistic perspective, including legal, physiological, and political perspectives. The many diagrams, tables, and forms summarize the text beautifully and provide the reader with practical tools that can be applied to many settings. The importance of self-care by crisis responders is one of the book s many virtues, and much of what Dr. Greenstone recommends for responders is equally applicable to most of us. I expect that this book will become a classic in the training of crisis responders, and that it will soon be adopted as a standard reference by Police, Fire Fighting, EMT, and similar Academies. --Philip Roos, Ph.D.,Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor

Emotional first aid is one of those rare texts where Dr. Greenstone has incorporated decades of experience and public service into every page. This is a necessary read for every police, fire recruit, or armed service member. Veteran first responders will also benefit, as this information is rarely emphasized during required training. The easy to read text, charts and indexing system is brilliant... --Weldon Walles, Retired Master Peace Officer/Crime Scene Analyst

Emotional First Aid: A field guide to crisis intervention and psychological survival is timely, cover subject matter not addressed in full elsewhere, is clearly and concisely written, user friendly, and contains all the charts, graphs, etc. you will need. Dr. Greenstone calls upon his studies, his research, his extensive experience, and his creativity to find innovative ways to teach, to challenge, to remain current, and to think ahead. He has honed this book to a fine point, keeping what needed and avoiding the clutter what you don t need. The issue of cause and effect is paramount in his teaching. As he tells responders, Always have a reason for what you do. Reacting rather than responding can serve to heighten the stress and sabotage the intervention. Dr. Greenstone includes a comprehensive section on the need for ongoing preparation. You cannot be a trusted professional responder without incorporating this information in your approach. Emotional First Aid: A field guide to crisis intervention and psychological survival is carefully crafted to draw the reader down the path to become a valuable crisis responder. It is a major resource at a time when the need for trained responders is urgent. --Sharon C. Leviton, PhD, DABECI

Edition details

• Publisher: Whole Person Associates, Inc
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1570253293
• ISBN 13: 9781570253294
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 226