Discussion Thread: Critical Incident Scenario  
One night in March, there were about 30 tornadoes that ripped through the central part of the state of Arkansas. One particular rural town (population about 5,000) was almost entirely destroyed and about the only thing left standing was the local school. You are called to the school gymnasium within 48 hours of this critical incident to do a stress debriefing with many of the towns’ folk. Discuss the following:

Discuss the characteristics of such a critical incident (e.g., natural disaster, sociocultural aspects, existing county/town infrastructure, time of day or month of event, duration or intensity of this weather event, effects of media coverage).
Discuss the types of losses that individuals in this small rural community have sustained.
Anticipate and discuss some of the familiar feelings/emotions, thoughts, or stories that you would expect to encounter after such an incident.
Who might be the persons most affected (emotionally, behaviorally, physically, cognitively, and spiritually) by this critical incident (e.g., populations such as elderly or disabled, family members, friends, firefighters, police, paramedics, rescue personnel, other surrounding support systems)?
What coping mechanisms and resiliency factors would you want to assess/evaluate and facilitate with the townspeople?
Kolski, T. D., Jongsma, A. E. & Myer, R. A. (2014). The crisis counseling and traumatic events
treatment planner, with DSM-5 updates. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN:
9781119063155.