Click here for an Adobat Acrobat PDF File on Stress Management Tips - After A Hurricane Evacuation.
For other information, please go to our Employee Assistance Program website at www.EAPWEBSITE.COM. The login code is: St. Tammany Schools. The EAP telephone numbers are: 1-800-256-1575 or 1-504-832-1170. You may call these numbers to speak with a counselor 24/7.
Our Employee Assistance Program recommends that our employees visit crisiscare.com. This is the website for Crisis Care Network, a company that the EAP has used in the past to assist in crisis management. They have a short video addressing Hurricane Gustav issues and other information on crisis management for employers. They provide some guidance in a phased approach: moving from basics such as food and shelter, to re-establishing connectivity and a sense of community, to moving from chaos to order as quickly as possible, to moving from helplessness to efficacy and confidence, and finally moving from victim to survivor.
Evidence based, research backed principles for all crisis intervention include (as listed from the Crisis Care Network website):
1. The vast majority of people exposed to traumatic events will exercise their innate resiliency and will recover within 4 - 6 weeks of the event without the need for clinical intervention.
2. The most pressing needs at the time of impact center on practical, instrumental assistance and the reassurance that comes from well- structured, comprehensive, and responsive actions from their organization.
3. Immediate assistance for victims of disaster and other traumatic events should center first and foremost around non-clinical, humanitarian support that involves addressing basic needs (food, clothing, and shelter) and supportive palliative care.
4. The best predictor of an individual's potential to recover is pre- morbid functioning/disposition, not the intensity or duration of event, or type of clinical intervention provided within the first 4 weeks. The best facilitation for the climate of recovery comes from the perception of social support and responsiveness on the part of the workplace and employer.
5. The most effective evidence based post-trauma clinical intervention for individuals indicating, via assessment, the persistence of symptoms 4 - 6 weeks post incident is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy).