WeCARE
Trauma Response Team

Why is support specific for our second victims important?

• Second victims may feel responsible for the unexpected patient outcome.

• They often believe they have failed the patient and second-guess their clinical skills and knowledge base. 

• They may experience a professional crisis, seeking to change job assignments or career paths.

What situations are risky for evoking a second victim response?

• Pediatric or young adult patients.

• Patients who have personal connections with staff members, or "connect" the second victim with his or her own experiences, co-workers or family.

• High-profile community event victims.

• One in a series of similar adverse patient outcomes in a short period of time on the same unit.

• First death the second victim has experienced as a care provider. 

• Organ donors. 

• Chronic, long-term patients.

• Workplace violence situations.​

General responsibilities for a Staff Support Team Member: 

• Serve as confidential resource for faculty/staff to discuss response to stressful clinical events.

• Serve as content experts on the second victim phenomenon.

• Confer with facility team lead or team coordinator to determine appropriate referral as needed.

• Fulfill responsibilities as "lifeguard" during team de-briefings.

• Fulfill expectations of Staff Support Team membership.

Personal characteristics of a Staff Support Team Member:

• Respect and trust of peers.

• Ability to keep confidences.

• Effective communication skills.

• Emotional Maturity

• Empathetic

• Non-judgmental

• Culturally aware & sensitive.

• Accessible for team activities.

• Ability to work within established guidelines.

• Ability to declare a conflict of interest, if indicated.

• Receive manager endorsement to serve as a WeCARE teem peer supporter.

What is the Staff Support team role?

• Three tier response process:

  • Primary Level: Frontline team members.​

  • Secondary Level: Frontline staff and leaders who lead smaller groups through debriefing.

  • Tertiary Level: Larger groups of staff led by Debriefing Team Members.

• Clinical staff will be trained in crisis and critical incident stress management intervention techniques. These clinicians will span "high risk" areas and represent several health care professions.

• 23-hour pager access to a staff support team leader.

• Informational brochures for second victim and their loves ones. 

• Additional resources for professional counseling when peer support is not sufficient.

• Expectations of commitment: formal response of no more than 2 hours per month. This is informal and will be during regular working hours.

Membership is revocable at the discretion of the Steering Team based upon recommendations of an ad hoc Peer Review Board. Revocation is applicable for, but not limited to, the following:

• Intentional violation of confidentiality of any activation.

• Failure to follow protocols and directives regarding team activity.

• Inability to attend at least 50% of team meetings (unless excused absences by facility team leads).

• Failure to be present at an assigned intervention, when the team member has a commitment to do so.