Postvention Protocol Example

1. Have a preexisting crisis intervention response plan in the event of a student suicide 2. Verify the death and confirm the cause as suicide

 Member of school should contact parents of the deceased prior to initiating support services to the school community.

3. Mobilize the crisis management team  Who is on the team?

 Incident commander, public information officer, mental health officer, security officer, medical liaison

 Notify staff via phone tree

 Convene meeting before school day with staff

4. Assess the impact and estimate the level of required response  Student needs

 Proximity

o Physical – sat next to student; found the student

o Emotional – relationship with deceased

o Temporal – recently suffered loss or experience life stressor  Vulnerability – history of suicidal risk factors

o Internal

o External  Staff needs

5. Prepare for crisis intervention activities  Share same information

 Give same instructions for all staff

 Determine how information will be shared  Craft message for students

o Include facts about suicide and resources

o Follow safe message guidelines (APPENDIX 1 and APPENDIX 5)  Notify large school community in the natural classroom setting

 Those most affected can be pulled individually or in small groups  Two staff members should be present in classrooms

 Give accurate information about the death, without providing graphic details.

o Validate feelings

o Verify death

o Discuss facts of suicide

o Discuss how the students are feeling

o Discuss what can be done to facilitate coping  Notify parents of students (letter home)

o Inform parents of the death

o Describe crisis response by school

APPENDIX 2: POSTVENTION PROTOCOL EXAMPLE  Meet with parents in person (Context specific)

o Goals

 Verify death and express sympathy on behalf of school

 Discuss crisis intervention and resources available for students  Educate parents about suicide and mental health

 Educate ways to help their children and cope with death

o Two-part meeting

 General session with informative presentation by school  Followed by small groups of no more than 10 parents where

questions and comments can be handled (AFSP & SPRC, 2011)

6. Staff Meeting

 Inform staff members about the death

 Allow expression of feelings without students present  Prepare staff members for crisis response

 Meeting should last approximately 1 hour

 Share accurate and thorough information with staff, but remind staff not to share all information with students

 Statement drafted by crisis team should be read to students

 Questions about details of suicide should be guided to general facts about suicide and process grief

 Resources and recommendations of how to cope with loss should be shared  Share details about funeral, if known.

 Team leaders should discuss important aspects of crisis response.  Introduce any outside responders

 Discuss role of each staff member in the response efforts  Classroom activities should be shared

 Referral process and the role staff play in identifying at-risk students should be shared.

7. On-going meetings

 Schedule evaluative meetings (debriefing), as many as necessary per the situation. 8. Implement crisis intervention activities

 Psychological triage

 Evaluate, sort, and direct appropriate treatment for students according to immediacy

 Consider risk factors (proximity and vulnerability)  Consider warning signs

 Monitor social media

o Involve students to provide outreach on sites after being trained by staff

APPENDIX 2: POSTVENTION PROTOCOL EXAMPLE

o Provide general facts about suicide

o Provide a venue to express grief related loss

o Education about common reactions to grief and what to possibly expect

o Explore and facilitate positive coping reactions

o Discuss the referral process for further support if needed.  Clear and consistent responses

 Iterate that suicidal thoughts and feelings should never be kept a secret  Discuss process of referral, and post referral process/resources in prominent

place

o Express confidentiality of referral process  Monitor need for continued follow-up

 Mental health provider follow deceased students schedule to identify students in need

9. Memorials & Funerals  Funeral

 If held during school hours, students wishing to attend should be allowed to do so.

 Normal school schedule should be retained

 Do not use school resources (e.g., school busses to transport students).  Consider having mental health provider at funeral to assist as needed  Providers should be prepared to support students when the return from the

service  Memorials

 Should follow same procedures as any other student death

 Set clear limits on what types of activities will be acceptable, while validating the importance of doing something to honor the deceased for healing students

 Advocate for creative memorials such as making donations to family or community organizations, volunteering at community mental health

organization, and advocating for suicide-prevention school-based activities and programs

 Do not create permanent memorials on school grounds (e.g., trees, plaques, benches).

 Do not conduct large assemblies  Do not fly flags at half-staff

 Leave spontaneous memorials up until after the funeral, or for approximately 5 days

 Leave students desk empty for approximately 5 days until rearranging seating

 Monitor memorials for inappropriate messages

 Discuss with families the appropriate types of memorial activities, and the rationale behind such limitations.

APPENDIX 2: POSTVENTION PROTOCOL EXAMPLE 10. Evaluate the response and follow-up with any necessary students or issues

 Evaluate the response to determine appropriateness (e.g., increase or decrease response)

 Critique the overall response after the conclusion of the crisis response  Evaluate the overall response process

 Determine what follow-up is needed (students, activities, etc.)

 Identify strengths and weaknesses to adjust crisis plan in preparation for future responses.

APPENDIX 3: POSTVENTION PROTOCOL COMPONENTS