Chrysa Papapanou¹ and Michail Chalaris²
¹Department of Institute of Management of Manmade and Natural Disasters, Educational Research Center, Athens, Greece
²Department Of Chemistry, International Hellenic University, Kavala, Greece

Part of the book: The Challenges of Disaster Planning, Management, and Resilience

Abstract

Throughout the 21st century, humanity has already recorded enormous technological progress, developing the necessary techniques not only for the effective response to a mass casualty event, but also for a smooth and complete restoration. In the context of the effective management of a critical event and especially during the recovery phase, the necessity of the application of the debriefing method is examined thoroughly in this chapter. This chapter could also be characterized as a hybrid product of methodology as it consists of two main parts. The first part is based on the literature review in order to examine the process of the debriefing technique, citing historical data of the evolution of the technique over the years. The method itself was then analyzed in depth indicating its stages as also whether its conduction is influenced by the interculturality. In the second part of this chapter, statistics are presented for the debriefing process that emerged after a survey through a structured questionnaire processed through the SPSS program, to a targeted sample of people involved in the management of critical incidents, giving a glimpse of the Greek approach to the method of debriefing. The processing of the data collection led to the conclusion that although debriefing is globally considered a necessary method for the integrated management of a critical incident, nevertheless in Greece it is not carried out on a regular basis as a standardized procedure. In addition, the absence of a mental health professional during the process cannot be overlooked.

Keywords: debriefing, debriefing strategies, crisis management, experiential learning, psychological debriefing

References

[1] Gardner, Roxane. 2013. “Introduction to Debriefing.” Seminars in Perinatology, Simulation in Maternal
Fetal Medicine, 37, no. 3 (June 1, 2013): 166–74.
[2] Riley, Richard H. 2008. Manual of Simulation in Healthcare. Oxford University Press.
[3] College of Policing. Briefing and Debriefing. 2021. Accessed February 3, 2021. https://www.app.
college.police.uk/app-content/operations/briefing-and-debriefing/.
[4] Allspaw, John, Morgan Evans, and Daniel Schauenberg. 2016. “Debriefing Facilitation Guide,” 2016, 30.
[5] Bilgin, C. U., Baek, Y., & Park, H. (2015). How Debriefing Strategies Can Improve Student Motivation
and Self-Efficacy in Game-Based Learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 53(2), 155–
182. Accessed February 3, 2021. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0735633115598496.
[6] Ulmer, Francis F., Rana Sharara-Chami, Zavi Lakissian, Martin Stocker, Ella Scott, and Peter
Dieckmann. 2018. “Cultural Prototypes and Differences in Simulation Debriefing.” Simulation in
Healthcare 13, no. 4 (August 2018): 239–46. doi.org/10.1097/SIH.0000000000000320.
[7] Corporate Finance Institute. 2021. “Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory – Overview and
Categories.” Accessed March 5, 2021. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/
other/hofstedes-cultural-dimensions-theory/.
[8] Chung, Hyun Soo, Peter Dieckmann, and Saul Barry Issenberg. 2013. “It Is Time to Consider Cultural
Differences in Debriefing.” Simulation in Healthcare: Journal of the Society for Simulation in
Healthcare 8, no. 3 (June 2013): 166–70. doi.org/10.1097/SIH.0b013e318291d9ef.
[9] Lovell-Hawker, Dr Debbie. 2004. “Debriefing Aid Workers: A Comprehensive Manual,” 2004, 82.
DOI: 10.1097/SIH.0b013e318291d9ef.
[10] Mitchell, Jeffrey T. “Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD),” n.d., 10. University of Maryland.
[11] Gian Paolo Cimellaro. 2016. Urban Resilience for Emergency Response and Recovery, Springer
International Publishing Switzerland 2016, doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30656-8.
[12] Dyregrov, Atle. 1997. “The Process in Psychological Debriefings.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 10, no.
4 (October 1, 1997): 589–605. doi.org/10.1023/A:1024893702747.
[13] American Psychiatric Association. 2021. “What Is PTSD?” Accessed March 12, 2021. https://www.ps
ychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd.
[14] Beaglehole, Ben, Roger T. Mulder, Chris M. Frampton, Joseph M. Boden, Giles Newton-Howes, and
Caroline J. Bell. 2018. “Psychological Distress and Psychiatric Disorder after Natural Disasters:
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 213, no. 6 (December 2018):
716–22. doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2018.210.
[15] Alexander, David A., and Susan Klein. 2001. “Ambulance Personnel and Critical Incidents: Impact of
Accident and Emergency Work on Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being.” The British Journal of
Psychiatry 178, no. 1 (January 2001): 76–81. doi.org/10.1192/bjp.178.1.76.
[16] F. Katsavounis, E. Bebetsos. 2016. ‘Διαταραχή μετατραυματικού stress σε πυροσβέστες και πληρώματα
ασθενοφόρων μετά από μαζικές απώλειες υγείας. [Posttraumatic stress disorder in firefighters and
ambulance crews following mass casualty]’ Archives of Hellenic Medicine, November 2016, Vol. 35
Issue 1, p114-119. 6p.
[17] Alvarez, Jennifer, and Melissa Hunt. 2005. “Risk and Resilience in Canine Search and Rescue Handlers
after 9/11.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 18, no. 5 (2005): 497–505. doi.org/10.1002/jts.20058.
[18] Brady, Kathleen T. 1997. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbidity: Recognizing the Many
Faces of PTSD.” J Clin Psychiatry, n.d., 4. (1997);58[suppl 9]:12-15.
[19] Deahl, M. P., and J. I. Bisson. 1995. “Dealing with Disasters: Does Psychological Debriefing Work?”
Emergency Medicine Journal 12, no. 4 (December 1, 1995): 255–58. doi.org/10.1136/emj.12.4.255.
[20] Kearns, Megan C., Kerry J. Ressler, Doug Zatzick, and Barbara Olasov Rothbaum. 2012. “Early
Interventions for Ptsd: A Review.” Depression and Anxiety 29, no. 10 (2012): 833–42. doi.org/10.10
02/da.21997.
[21] Deahl, Martin, Michael Srinivasan, Norman Jones, Janice Thomas, Carl Neblett, and Allan Jolly. 2000.
“Preventing Psychological Trauma in Soldiers: The Role of Operational Stress Training and
Psychological Debriefing.” British Journal of Medical Psychology 73, no. 1 (2000): 77–85. doi.org/10.
1348/000711200160318.
[22] Rose, Suzanna C., Jonathan Bisson, Rachel Churchill, and Simon Wessely. 2002. “Psychological
Debriefing for Preventing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews, no. 2 (2002). doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000560.
[23] Robinson, Robyn C., and Jeffrey T. Mitchell.1993. “Evaluation of Psychological Debriefings.” Journal
of Traumatic Stress 6, no. 3 (1993): 367–82. doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490060307.
[24] Emmerik, Arnold AP van, Jan H Kamphuis, Alexander M Hulsbosch, and Paul MG Emmelkamp. 2002.
“Single Session Debriefing after Psychological Trauma: A Meta-Analysis.” The Lancet 360, no. 9335
(September 7, 2002): 766–71. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09897-5.
[25] MacDonald, Catherine M. 2003. “Evaluation of Stress Debriefing Interventions with Military
Populations.” Military Medicine 168, no. 12 (December 1, 2003): 961–68. doi.org/10.1093/milmed/168.12.961.
[26] Tannenbaum, Scott I., and Christopher P. Cerasoli. 2013. “Do Team and Individual Debriefs Enhance
Performance? A Meta-Analysis.” Human Factors 55, no. 1 (February 1, 2013): 231–45.

doi.org/10.1177/0018720812448394.
[27] Regehr, Cheryl. 2001.”Crisis Debriefing Groups for Emergency Responders: Reviewing the Evidence.”
Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 1 (September 1, 2001): 87–100. doi.org/10.1093/brief-trea
tment/1.2.87.
[28] Sonya Healy, Mark Tyrrell. 2012. “Importance of Debriefing Following Critical Incidents.” Text,
August 28, 2012. doi.org/10.7748/en2013.03.20.10.32.s8.
[29] Raphael, Beverley, Lenore Meldrum, and A. C. Mcfarlane. 1995. “Does Debriefing after Psychological
Trauma Work?” BMJ 310, no. 6993 (June 10, 1995): 1479–80. doi.org/10.1136/ bmj.310.6993.1479.
[30] Adler, Amy B., Carl Andrew Castro, and Dennis McGurk. 2009. “Time-Driven Battle mind
Psychological Debriefing: A Group-Level Early Intervention in Combat.” Military Medicine 174, no. 1
(January 1, 2009): 21–28. doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-00-2208.