Recommended Training for Crisis Management
Trainings consist of instruction in the skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies in the evaluation, assessment, and intervention of challenging behavior. Any organization that provides services to assess, treat, and/or otherwise manage challenging behavior should develop their own trainings with attention to current evidence-based practices, relevant federal, state, and local statutes and regulations. Again, the intention of this document is to serve as a model.
Below are some recommended trainings for crisis management for direct care staff working with individuals who exhibit challenging behavior:
1. Crisis Prevention
The purpose of this training is to provide trainees with the information and skills to prevent and redirect escalated behavioral episodes before such episodes become a “crisis”. Crisis prevention trainings are most effective when they are directed towards the needs, communication styles, and cultural differences of specific populations and include a functional approach to understanding the causes of challenging behavior.
2. Crisis Management Techniques
The purpose of training on crisis management techniques is to provide trainees with a set of skills that can safely manage dangerous behavior. Safety is the primary concern of crisis management training and a general rule is that the techniques that are trained should never be more dangerous than the behavior they are used to manage. These trainings include when and when not to use each technique as well as safety considerations of using each technique.
3. Documentation
The purpose of documentation training is to ensure proper documentation of the use of crisis management techniques for regulatory and organizational purposes. For direct care staff, the main content of this training is on how to correctly complete all the required documentation for specific procedures.
4. Reporting
The use of crisis management techniques often represents situations in which severe challenging behavior occurred; reporting this behavior and use of crisis management techniques is important to identify any trends or issues and respond accordingly. This training consists of who and when to report an incident to and what information to share.
5. Debriefing
The purpose of debriefing is to ensure that everyone involved in an episode is physically and emotionally recovered. A second purpose is to analyze a given episode and determine if changes can be made to training, programming, and/or the environment to prevent or better respond to further episodes. An additional purpose to debriefing is to ensure that restrictive procedures are being used only as needed.
6. Oversight
Crisis management programs require oversight to be implemented ethically and safely. Oversight includes an emphasis on consistent review, high levels of supervision, immediate and complete reporting, comprehensive training, and collaborations and effective communication across departments and agencies. For example, oversight includes access to peer review systems that ensure all restrictive programs are reviewed in terms of efficacy, appropriateness, and safety on a regular basis and emergency cases can be reviewed promptly.
