What is a Critical Incident?
A critical incident is an event that overwhelms the usual coping strategies of an individual and tends to be outside ‘ordinary’ human experience. Such incidents typically include loss of life or threat to physical safety such as a suicide or serious fire on campus. Exposure to critical incidents can cause strong emotional responses in victims, helpers and observers and have the potential to cause significant traumatic stress. If they are not effectively managed, such reactions can severely interfere with people’s ability to function as they were prior to the incident.
People who may be affected by critical incidents include:
- People directly exposed to the incident – those who suffer intense trauma including injuries.
- Relatives and friends – those who are grieving for the injured and affected.
- People with previous trauma or grief – those who are not directly affected by the incident but who may be affected because of a previous incident.
- Helpers, recovery or support personnel – those who are required to maintain functional efficiency during the incident and to provide immediate emotional support to those affected for example staff, counsellors and administrators.
- Community and people not directly involved – those from neighbouring workplaces and those who would have been directly involved but were not because of chance or circumstances.
Useful information on responses to traumatic events is available in the following fact sheets:
Managing Critical Incidents at UTAS
The majority of incidents will be managed by the Campus Emergency Coordinators using established emergency procedures. More serious critical incidents may require the intervention of the University Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT). This team consists of high-level management who guide the response to an incident.
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