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Critical incident debriefing toolkit: Overview

“Debriefing ideally creates a space where we can reflect on what went well and we need to consciously repeat again in the future, and what were the challenges and things we consciously would change in the future. Debriefing also allows us to acknowledge any confronting scenes or emotions that need to be normalised and shared” - (Dr) Liz Crowe

Understanding and acknowledging the importance of preparing for and delivering critical incident debriefing (CID), the college together with the Trainee Wellbeing Project Group (TWPG) has undertaken to develop a suite of informed, accessible and diverse training resources for fellows and trainees during and following critical incidents.

What to expect from the toolkit

The toolkit has been structured into two sections.

The first section is composed of three main categories (or tabs):

  1. What is a critical incident?
  2. How to hot debrief
  3. How to care for a trainee or colleague in distress

Within each category you will find journal articles, fact sheets, podcasts and videos, websites, and how-to and explanatory documents.

  • The fact sheets have been developed for scenarios where you require urgent access to information and need to act quickly and decisively.
  • The how-to documents are for the times when you have 15-20 minutes before leading a debrief or for trainees to prepare questions and feel informed of the process and its rigour and transparency.
  • The comprehensive Critical Incident Debriefing report [see box out] has been purposely developed and designed so that you can dip in and out, depending on availability of your time.
  • The multimedia resources compliment the written documents and include videos and three podcasts that can be listened to on your way into work, or on your way home or during a break or when you are out on a walk.

The final section (tab) is the collected additional resources - which can be found on the other tabs - divided into the following themes:

  1. Understanding yourself after a critical incident
  2. How to support others
  3. Team work and communication

These resources are predominantly multimedia resources with some supporting websites and articles.

Talk to us

We rely on your feedback to further develop and support user access to the Critical incident debrief (CID) toolkit. Use the link below to provide content suggestions, as well as to make recommendations, report issues, and to give general feedback.

CID toolkit feedback form

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