In a message dated 11/09/1999 6:46:50 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<  I have had some training in "critical incident debriefing".
 Basically, it consists of getting all the people involved in the incident,
 emergency personnel and others, together to talk about what happen. The aim
 of this is to prevent PTSD which is exactly what you experienced the day
 you relived the incident. Debriefing gets everyone to talk about what they
 saw, heard, felt and smelled during the incident. Then, you talk about the
 emotions elicited. All of this immediate processing is supposed to allay
 some of the PTSD occurences. I
 have no idea if it works. Fortunately, I have never used it.
  >>

They were just starting to use critical incident debriefings when I was in
the FD.  We never had one in our department, although I can clearly remember
calls that could qualify.  I studied a little about this too, and it's neat
to know someone else who knows about this stuff.

I'm sorry to hear about Paul.  It sounds like his death has had major
consequences for you.  Of course, I'm sorry to hear about Maxx too.

This thread seems massively productive -- what an outpouring!

Betty