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Critical Incident Stress Management Team

Kitsap County CISM team was developed to provide debriefing services to emergency response personnel following critical incidents. The focus of the CISM Program is to minimize the harmful effects of a crisis or emergency situations and support the efforts of emergency services personnel. Confidentiality and respect for the individuals involved are the highest priority for the team.

The Kitsap County CISM Team is comprised of professional and volunteer responders from the emergency services, medical community, education and mental health professionals, all of whom are specially trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISD), aspects of acute trauma and disaster recovery, and the basic standards of peer support.

In addition to Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISD), the CISM program also provides pre-incident education, on-scene support, post incident defusing and demobilizations to emergency service personnel. The CISM team is registered with and provides services for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Team members serve on a "duty roster" program available 24-7 to the response community.

Volunteers who have not yet received national accreditation are welcome into the program. Once they have received national accreditation, new members will be mentored by the CISM team to guide them through the process of gaining the required experience to be placed on the County Team. All team members must be registered as an Emergency Worker with KCDEM.

If you are interested in becoming a CISM Volunteer, please click on the "CISM Application" below. You will also need to fill out the "KCDEM Background Check Application". Once the application and background check are complete and licenses and/or certifications have been verified, you will be notified of an Orientation date.  All potential team members go through both an orientation and interview process.

When completed, you may fax or mail the application to:

Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management
911 Carver Street, Bremerton, WA98312
Fax: 360-478-9802
Attn: Volunteer Application


PDF Documents

CISM Application