PLANS are in place to help police officers cope with the trauma of dealing with any increase in sudden deaths from COVID-19 in Essex.<\/p>\n
Essex Police Federation has said that plans for additional support and welfare will be activated if continued exposure to sudden traumatic deaths take their toll on officers\u2019 mental health, especially as they are often involved in dealing with the deceased.<\/p>\n
Chairman Steve Taylor said: \u201cThe sudden deaths that we\u2019ve been dealing with, we\u2019ve been dealing with them the same way we would any other sudden death.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo date, there\u2019s nothing new in regards how we\u2019re dealing with members of the community that die.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are plans in place if we have to escalate to something more befitting of the crisis, but those haven\u2019t been activated yet, and are being worked up and finessed, so they do have an additional layer of welfare and support through the Fed, the organisation, and the Trauma Risk Incident Management group.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s in place if it has to be activated, but as of now we\u2019re dealing with sudden death the same way we always have, just with the extra reassurance of the PPE.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Police Federation of England and Wales has released a new video offering expert advice and techniques on how to deal with the mental health pressures the pandemic is bringing to bear on frontline officers.<\/p>\n
The video features Dr Jess Miller, a Neuropsychologist at Police Care UK and the University of Cambridge, and includes various techniques that officers can try to help them cope with traumatic situations. It also encourages officers to be open and honest with their line managers.<\/p>\n
To see the video visit: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JcLo2qKcNxA&feature=emb_title<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"