| Summary: | <p> A workplace critical incident is any event which disrupts or impacts the functioning of a business, e.g., death of an employee, downsizing or robbery. Critical incident responders (CIRs) are specially trained licensed mental health professionals who respond to workplace critical incidents as support to both the employees and the business organization through applied crisis theory and as a business continuity resource. The goal of a workplace response is to return employees to their pre-crisis level of functioning. CIRs are required to become certified in a multi-component crisis intervention technique. Prior to this study, no data existed regarding how closely CIRs adhered to intervention models or what theoretical frameworks informed their practice. This study sought to understand, from the perspective of the workplace CIR, what practices they employ and why. The design was a two phased, sequential, mixed method explanatory design. Phase one was a quantitative internet based survey (n = 110) and phase two was a qualitative phone interview (n = 12) designed to enhance the understanding of phase one results and provide rich data on the experiences of workplace CIRs. The conceptual frameworks for this study were theories of crisis, crisis intervention and constructivism. The results found that CIRs demonstrate autonomy in deciding which interventions to apply during a response. Type and nature of the crisis as well as timing of response from the event influenced the CIRs’ approach. CIRs are informed by brief treatment modalities and even though CIRs have limited understanding of the phrase business continuity, they still provide the services. CIRs described modifying Mitchell’s CISD Model to address the needs of civilians in the workplace. Primary activities are assessing, normalizing and educating. Results will further the understanding of critical incident response and enhance the current best practice models.</p><p>
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