Apologies! Last blog I said that this one would be about to know when to switch from ongoing professional practice into crisis management and that is coming up in my next blog. First, however, it is important to clarify what a staff member must be able to do to manage dangerous behaviour because that will highlight what this blog needs to cover if it is to be successful.
So:
You must be able to identify the earliest point where a situation becomes critical because that is the point to shift from normal practice into the front-end or crisis management skills.
You must be able to make an accurate snap judgment regarding the nature of the threat and what is driving it. This has to be done automatically as there may be no time to think and your own elevated state of arousal may make thought difficult if not impossible.
Having made that snap judgment you need to activate the appropriate skill set for managing that type of threat.
None of this will be possible, however, if the acute stress response (flight-flight-freeze) takes over. So you have to know how to safely activate the sympathetic nervous system, make your body your friend and avoid toxic behaviours.
Well that all sounds like too much of a tall order and it's why many people will tell you "there are no rules" "every situation is different" "you'll never know how to react until your in that situation" "yo are in the lap of the Gods".
Maybe, but I hope to be able to demonstrate a better way.
Stay safe
Iain
