Critical Incident Stress Management

The Suffolk County Emergency Services Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team is ready and available for Emergency Responders and Dispatchers who feel they need to talk to someone during this very difficult, stressful time.

The team is prepared to conduct “One-on-One” sessions over the telephone if you need someone to speak with.  If you would like to speak with a team member please call the Team Hotline at 631-924-5435. 

If you have any questions, please contact the team coordinator, Paul Marra, at 631-487-7253. Feel free to leave a message.  Paul will return your call as soon as possible.

“We support each other as we are all in this together.”

A Chief Officer or his/her designee can arrange for a critical incident stress debriefing by calling the hot line at:
(631) 924-5435  

The Suffolk County Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team was established in 1984 to provide critical incident debriefing and related services for Suffolk County's emergency response personnel.  A critical incident is defined as "an event which negatively impacts the responders in such a way that it interferes with their performance at the scene as well as their overall well-being".  Critical incident stress debriefings have been shown to mitigate the effects of a critical incident and to assist emergency response personnel with the healing process. The Team operates a 24-hour-a-day hotline for debriefings and related services.

All requests are handled promptly, often immediately.  The Team's services must be requested by the emergency response agency; the Team will not respond to an event or arrange for a debriefing unless it has been requested to do so.

If an individual is having problems of a personal nature, please encourage them to contact the Team. The Team does not take third party calls; the individual must call the Team.

Qualified health professionals, assisted by trained peer counselors, (many of which have extensive volunteer experience with their local response agency) conduct all debriefings.

The Team provides the following services:

• Demobilization: The Team is called upon to respond to the event location to observe personnel as they perform their duties;
• Defusing: The Team speaks to the emergency response personnel before they are dismissed from the event;
• Debriefing: The Team meets in a group session with those who participated within 48-72 hours of the event.
• One-on-one counseling is also available through the hot line number.

If you would like a CISM presentation for your training course or response agency, please contact Paul Marra at (631) 852-4235.