Issues in the debriefing debate for the emergency services: Moving research outcomes forward

Revisiting the debriefing debate: does psychological debriefing reduce PTSD symptomology following work-related trauma? A meta-analysis

Psychological debriefing is an early post-trauma intervention which aims to prevent the development of PTSD and accelerate normal recovery through discussing, validating, and normalising group members responses to trauma. While originally designed in the 1980s for groups of emergency service personnel, the scope of psychological debriefing extended to individual primary victims of trauma. A Cochrane review in 2002 concluded that psychological debriefing was ineffective, yet some authors have argued that many of the studies that informed the Cochrane review did not adhere to key elements of psychological debriefing. This meta-analysis sought to re-examine the effectiveness of psychological debriefing in preventing or reducing PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Appropriate studies were selected from three databases (MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO). Inclusion criteria was intentionally broad so that features of psychological debriefing that may determine its effectiveness could be explored through a series of subgroup analyses. The overall synthesis did not find consistent evidence that psychological debriefing helps to prevent or reduce PTSD symptoms following work-related trauma. Shortcomings in the methodology and reporting of many of the studies meant that several important subgroup analyses could not be conducted. Further well-designed studies in this field are warranted to ensure that employees exposed to potentially traumatic events receive the effective support they need and deserve.

Clinical event debriefing: a review of approaches and objectives

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review explores four different approaches and clarifies objectives for debriefing after a clinical event in the emergency department. Psychological debriefing aims to prevent or reduce symptoms of traumatic stress and normalize recovery. Psychological first aid helps team members provide each other with pragmatic social support. Debriefing for simulation-based education promotes learning by team members. Quality improvement approaches and after action reviews focus on systems improvement.

RECENT FINDINGS

Qualitative studies have begun to explore interactions between clinical staff after a significant clinical event. Clearer descriptions and measurements of quality improvements and the effect of clinical event debriefing on patient outcomes are appearing. An increasing number of studies describe melded, scripted approaches to the hot debrief.

SUMMARY

Clinical staff have consistently indicated they value debriefing after a significant clinical event. Differing objectives from different approaches have translated into a wide variety of methods and a lack of clarity about relevant outcomes to measure. Recent descriptions of scripted approaches may clarify these objectives and pave the way for measuring relevant outcomes that demonstrate the effectiveness of and find the place for debriefing in the emergency department.

Post-incident review after restraint in mental health care -a potential for knowledge development, recovery promotion and restraint prevention. A scoping review

Background

Use of physical restraint is a common practice in mental healthcare, but is controversial due to risk of physical and psychological harm to patients and creating ethical dilemmas for care providers. Post-incident review (PIR), that involve patient and care providers after restraints, have been deployed to prevent harm and to reduce restraint use. However, this intervention has an unclear scientific knowledge base. Thus, the aim of this scoping review was to explore the current knowledge of PIR and to assess to what extent PIR can minimize restraint-related use and harm, support care providers in handling professional and ethical dilemmas, and improve the quality of care in mental healthcare.

Methods

Systematic searches in the MEDLINE, PsychInfo, Cinahl, Sociological Abstracts and Web of Science databases were carried out. The search terms were derived from the population, intervention and settings.

Results

Twelve studies were included, six quantitative, four qualitative and two mixed methods. The studies were from Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada and United States. The studies’ design and quality varied, and PIR s’ were conducted differently. Five studies explored PIR s’ as a separate intervention after restraint use, in the other studies, PIR s’ were described as one of several components in restraint reduction programs. Outcomes seemed promising, but no significant outcome were related to using PIR alone. Patients and care providers reported PIR to: 1) be an opportunity to review restraint events, they would not have had otherwise, and 2) promote patients’ personal recovery processes, and 3) stimulate professional reflection on organizational development and care.

Conclusion

Scientific literature directly addressing PIR s’ after restraint use is lacking. However, results indicate that PIR may contribute to more professional and ethical practice regarding restraint promotion and the way restraint is executed. The practice of PIR varied, so a specific manual cannot be recommended. More research on PIR use and consequences is needed, especially PIR’s potential to contribute to restraint prevention in mental healthcare.

The Use of Debriefing With Children

The debate over the use of psychological debriefing in the early aftermath of a traumatic event has raged for decades, yet little attention has been paid to its use with perhaps the most vulnerable of victims, children and adolescents. While recommendations against the use of group debriefing with adults seem to have been made based on research of individual debriefing, recommendations regarding its use with children have been made based on the adult literature. In this review, we outline the possible mechanisms of harm and benefit of debriefing with a discussion of developmental concerns. The available empirical and nonempirical literature on the use of debriefing with youth is summarized. While research does not currently evidence harm in the use of debriefing with children, there is no strong support for its use either. We present both clinical considerations and research implications as they relate to debriefing as well as what this debate has taught us about the challenges to disseminating and evaluating early crisis interventions in general.

Child Debriefing: A Review of the Evidence Base

Introduction

Debriefing, a controversial crisis intervention delivered in the early aftermath of a disaster, has not been well evaluated for use with children and adolescents. This report constitutes a review of the child debriefing evidence base.

Methods

A systematic search of selected bibliographic databases (EBM Reviews, EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, Ovid, PILOTS, PubMed, and PsycINFO) was conducted in the spring of 2014 using search terms related to psychological debriefing. The search was limited to English language sources and studies of youth, aged 0 to 18 years. No time limit was placed on date of publication. The search yielded 713 references. Titles and abstracts were reviewed to select publications describing scientific studies and clinical reports. Reference sections of these publications, and of other literature known to the authors that was not generated by the search, were used to locate additional materials. Review of these materials generated 187 publications for more thorough examination; this assessment yielded a total of 91 references on debriefing in children and adolescents. Only 15 publications on debriefing in children and adolescents described empirical studies. Due to a lack of statistical analysis of effectiveness data with youth, and some articles describing the same study, only seven empirical studies described in nine papers were identified for analysis for this review. These studies were evaluated using criteria for assessment of methodological rigor in debriefing studies.

Results

Children and adolescents included in the seven empirical debriefing studies were survivors of motor-vehicle accidents, a maritime disaster, hostage taking, war, or peer suicides. The nine papers describing the seven studies were characterized by inconsistency in describing the interventions and populations and by a lack of information on intervention fidelity. Few of the studies used randomized design or blinded assessment. The results described in the reviewed studies were mixed in regard to debriefing’s effect on posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and other outcomes. Even in studies in which debriefing appeared promising, the research was compromised by potentially confounding interventions.

Conclusion

The results highlight the small empirical evidence base for drawing conclusions about the use of debriefing with children and adolescents, and they call for further dialogue regarding challenges in evaluating debriefing and other crisis interventions in children.

PfefferbaumB, JacobsAK, NitiémaP, EverlyGSJr.Child debriefing: a review of the evidence base. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(3):110.

Postresuscitation debriefing in the pediatric emergency department: a national needs assessment

Objectives:

The objectives of this study were to assess current postresuscitation debriefing (PRD) practices in Canadian pediatric emergency departments (EDs) and identify areas for improvement.

Methods:

A national needs assessment survey was conducted to collect information on current PRD practices and perspectives on debriefing practice in pediatric EDs. A questionnaire was distributed to ED nurses, fellows, and attending physicians at 10 pediatric tertiary care hospitals across Canada. Summary statistics are reported.

Results:

Data were analyzed from 183 participants (48.7% response rate). Although 88.8% of the participants believed that debriefing is an important process, 52.5% indicated that debriefing after real resuscitations occurs less than 25% of the time and 68.3% indicated that no expectation exists for PRD at their institution. Although 83.7% of participants believed that facilitators should have a specific skill set developed through formal training sessions, 63.4% had no previous training in debriefing. Seventy-two percent felt that medical and crisis resource management issues are dealt with adequately when PRD occurs, and 90.4% indicated that ED workload and time shortages are major barriers to effective debriefing. Most responded that a debriefing tool to guide facilitators might aid in multiple skills, such as creating realistic debriefing objectives and providing feedback with good judgment.

Conclusion:

PRD in Canadian pediatric EDs occurs infrequently, although most health care providers agreed on its importance and the need for skilled facilitators.

Delayed Treatment Seeking Following the April 16th Shootings at Virginia Tech: Impact on a First Responder

This case study discusses the treatment of an emergency responder to the 2007 shooting on Virginia Tech’s campus where 33 students and faculty members were killed. After a thorough assessment, prolonged exposure (PE) was used to treat the emergency worker, referred to as Jack, for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Assessment measures administered at the conclusion of treatment, 1 month post-treatment, and 6 months post-treatment suggest that the treatment gains were maintained following the culmination of treatment. The primary aim of this article is to provide support for the effectiveness of PE among emergency responders who develop PTSD. In addition, this case presentation is particularly important given the prevalence of mass shootings in the United States. Several complicating factors, including a delay in treatment seeking, arose over the course of treatment and are discussed.