Trauma Response Services

Traumatic events can take many forms and occur anywhere. They can be defined as follows:

• an extreme event which falls outside the range of normal experience;
• causes a person to be subjected to, or witness, the event;
• exposes the person to shocking scenes of death or injuries;
• is life-threatening or could result in serious injuries;
• could lead a person to experience intense fear, helplessness, horror or other reactions of distress.

Trauma Response Services and Resources

Information and education sessions on stress reactions, stress management and resiliency building are offered to staff before an event or following a traumatic event. They may include:

• business continuity planning;
• pre-incident planning;
• policy and procedure development;
• pre-incident training for employees and management;
• post-incident services (i.e., demobilization, debriefing, psychological first aid).

Members of our network of mental health professionals, who possess trauma competencies, have been selected across Canada to assist, upon request, federal departments and agencies to manage the psycho-social response and recovery activities when a traumatic event occurs in the workplace.

In addition, Employee Assistance Services (EAS) has produced, with Treasury Board funding, two resources to help Public Service managers develop and maintain a supportive environment for employees who experience a traumatic workplace event and to support the delivery of critical services to Canadians during and after a major traumatic event: Preparing for and Responding to Workplace Trauma: A Manager's Handbook and the more comprehensive Preparing for and Responding to Workplace Trauma: A Manager's eGuide.

To obtain a paper copy of the document, Preparing for and Responding to Workplace Trauma: a Manager's Handbook, please contact Trauma@hc-sc.gc.ca.

For infomation about how to set up an effective emergency response plan for your organization or if you have questions relating to EAS' emergency response capacity in the case of emergency, please contact EAS' marketing line at 1-888-366-8213, fax: 613-948-8531 or email info-sos@hc-sc.gc.ca.

For more information Contact Us.