Face-to-face debriefs could be key to tackling trauma

FACE-to-face debriefs with colleagues who have been exposed to trauma – rather an online questionnaire – could help officers cope with what they are faced with at work, Essex Police Federation says.

Finding one standard programme to help all officers is complicated by the fact that individuals react differently to the stress they are put under, Steve Taylor Chairman of Essex Police Federation said.

He was speaking following the recent PFEW Roads Policing Conference in Leicestershire which reviewed the level of trauma officers are exposed to.

Roads policing and firearms officers together with colleagues dealing with child sexual abuse cases are at most risk, the Conference was told.

“People’s ability to healthily process trauma is unique to them and therefore it’s difficult to put in place a hard and fast process around it because that’s such a unique area to the individual,” Steve said.

“There is always more that we can do when it comes to preventative screening for officers and my personal view is the current system of completing an online questionnaire is a product of the austere times occupational health teams have been working under and it’s not the ideal.

“Online questionnaires can be manipulated, there are workarounds, and that means that they are a false and potentially dangerous indicator of the levels of trauma officers are trying to deal with.”

Steve says more face-to-face screening could help as part of ensuring how officers cope with what they have to deal with is spoken about.

“I’d love to see a move to more face-to-face screening,” he said. “But I do so fully cognisant of the fact that it costs money. It may not be where we are now.

“Let’s just not be too complacent with what we have. There’s always more that we can do when it comes to mental health.

“So, in the preventative sense we’re talking about screening, but also we’re talking about that cultural work which we can all play a part in and which actually doesn’t cost very much at all.

“This is a mantra you hear me trip out time and time again because it’s important. Mental health is not a dirty word. We need to be open and we need to be frank in how we deal with it when we encounter it in the workplace.”