Critical Incident Response Updated Literature Review

Abstract

During the last ten years there have been numerous mass casualty events (MCE) in the United States including: the San Bernardino shooting; Las Vegas shooting, Pulse Nightclub shooting; Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting; Dayton Ohio shooting; Parkland School shooting and; more re- cently, the Atlanta shootings targeting Asian Women. In addition, there have been unprecedented high-profile/high intensity crisis events that have impacted the Nation, such as the Covid 19 Pan- demic, the civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, and the assault on the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. Historically, incidents as buildings collapsing, train and bus colli- sions, plane crashes, earthquakes and other large-scale emergencies like the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the September 11 attacks in 2001 are further well-publicized examples of mass casualty incidents. Finally, in addition to these major newsworthy incidents there are daily events that require Disruptive Event/CIR interventions such as: robberies, layoffs/downsizing, and deaths in the workplace. In response to both the larger MCEs and the more “routine” daily interruptions, employers have begun to take a more proactive stance to anticipate and prepare their workers for potential disruptions of any size in the workplace. In all these cases, the continuity of business and organizational operations have been severely disrupted. Such events can be viewed through the lens of Nassim Nicholas Taleb"s book: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Taleb, 2007). Such events were unexpected and unplanned for. The growing recognition and frequency of such incidents has reverberated across all organizations and pushed them to consider how to quickly restore the continuity of their operations and ability to function. Obviously, such continuity efforts include programs to support employees in their recovery to normal functioning and productivity. Further, business leaders are frequently being held accountable for their response to crisis events, with both inter- nal and external stakeholders expecting a humane and appropriate response – or being judged harshly if they fail to do so. One response to these tragic MCEs is an effort by the National Institute of Standards & Tech- nology (NIST) Public Safety Communications Response (PSCR) Division. They are hosting a meeting early in 2021 focused on !Building Apps for Mass Casualty Events and Triage” (NIST, 2021). In 2015, this author conducted a literature review focused on the Critical Incident Response field (Herlihy, 2015). This current paper explores and emphasizes the shifts that have occurred since that time and seeks to update how language related to practice has shifted and evolved, what new models of delivery have emerged, and new research published.