Coping and adjustment strategies used by emergency services staff after traumatic incidents: implications for psychological debriefing, reconstructed early intervention and psychological first aid

This survey reports few points of convergence between post incident coping and adjustment strategies used by 217 experienced emergency services and the principles that inform delivery of debriefing services. Officers prefer immediate access to colleagues and those with whom they feel close. Most wish to talk freely and flexibly about events and prefer to be consulted about a possible need for early intervention. Cluster analysis identified five core components of deliberate coping strategies; wait and see, rest and relaxation, finding relief from somatosensory sequelae, re-establish routines and a sense of control, and graded confrontation with distressing reminders