Critical Incident support
What is a critical incident?
Sonder defines a critical incident as any workplace or on-campus event that occurs that has the potential to cause trauma to those who have experienced or witnessed it.
The Sonder team will assess, support, and manage those who are affected by a critical incident in order to ensure that they will receive the right type of care. In addition to supporting those affected by the critical incident, Sonder will also notify others who are close by to ensure their safety and welfare.
What happens when a critical incident occurs?
When a critical incident occurs, the Sonder team will assess, support, and manage those who are affected in order to ensure that they will receive the right type of care. Sonder’s dedicated Incident Management team will ensure that the response is appropriately resourced and aligned with our clinical governance. This may include in-person or digital support options within the Sonder app.
If in-person support is deemed appropriate following a critical incident, a Sonder Responder will attend the site to provide immediate psychological first aid, as well as identify others affected by the incident and explain to them how they can receive individual support.
Following the critical incident, the Sonder Responder will then work with the Incident Manager to identify and enrol those impacted by the event into a ‘Critical Incident Workflow’, which is a 5-week in-app nurture stream of messages to reinforce the support available to them that was developed in line with clinical best practice for early response to psychological trauma.
Who are the Sonder Responders?
Sonder Responders are recruited and trained to provide in-person safety and wellbeing support across Australia, UK and New Zealand. Responders come from a wide range of emergency services - including nursing, military and social worker backgrounds - and typically have at least 8-10 years of experience within their field.
The primary role of a Sonder Responder is to provide overall safety, psychological first aid, identify those who are impacted, and to explain how to connect with Sonder for support.
When considering deploying a Responder, Sonder will consider all circumstances of the support case, including the type of incident, response time, relevant skill sets, gender, and any potential conflicts of interest. The decision to deploy a responder is the sole discretion of Sonder.
What training and accreditation do Sonder Responders have?
A key Responder requirement is to have experience in dealing with complex, critical situations. Responders are trained to provide support to those going through potentially traumatic experiences, and complete regular refresher training.
Specific training includes psychological first aid, enabling Responders to quickly and accurately identify those who are ‘at risk’, as well as contextualised critical incident training, that ensures compliance with our clinical governance standards.
Do Sonder Responders provide counselling?
Not quite. Sonder Responders provide psychological first aid, which is an evidence informed approach aimed at helping people through an incident. This approach is aligned with Sonder’s stepped care model, which encourages people to tap into the appropriate level of care they require.
The intended result of a Responder providing psychological first aid is that a someone who is impacted will connect with Sonder on their own accord, and then goes on to receive personalised and appropriate care as they require it.
How does Sonder address the issue of psychological debriefing?
Historical methods of psychological debriefing and trauma counselling, as delivered by some traditional EAP providers, have been shown as an intervention method through Australian and International research to be ineffective, and possibly leading to an increased risk of developing mental health symptoms including PTSD.
As such, it is imperative that Sonder delivers clinically informed and best practice critical incident support, which is why Sonder’s model of support advocates and delivers psychological first aid (PFA) as opposed to psychological debriefing.
How can Sonder support leaders and managers after an incident?
Following a critical incident, our therapists can provide psychoeducation sessions to organisational leaders, if mental health pathways have been included. Psychoeducation is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention that provides a member with information and support around any mental health conditions they may be experiencing, or someone else may be experiencing, in their care.
The process includes the therapist teaching basic knowledge and competence about the symptoms, what the symptoms indicate, what triggers the symptoms, and how best to get support and treatment. These skills provide insight into the illness, promotes relapse prevention and helps in crisis management and suicide prevention. When psychoeducation is provided, consent for therapy must be gained from each attending leader, and the manager must have a registered profile within our product.