SAFETY DURING CRISIS (Daily nuggets)

Safety during Crisis
It is important you keep safe during a Crisis. Below are safety tips you can adopt in crisis situations

Day 1
Be careful. If there is a risk of harm, avoid any action that will make the situation worse.

Day 2
Remove yourself or others from the situation and/or call for help, such as the police or an ambulance, if necessary.

Day 3
If engaged in a physical engagement with an inciting element. Do not judge, argue, provoke, patronize, mock, or invalidate the person by saying their feelings are wrong or do not make sense. Remember, your safety is more important than winning an argument.

Day 4
Try to avoid intense feelings of anger or anxiety by taking slow, deep breaths

Focus on your breathing.

Day 5
If possible, remove yourself from the situation until you are more in control.

• Try to take the situation seriously without automatically assuming the worst (catastrophizing).
• Decide what plan will best allow you to deal with the situation. If you already have a plan, decide if it will work in this situation.
• Assess the risk to your own safety and that of others.
• Speak quietly.
• Slow down your breathing, thoughts, and actions.
• Reduce distractions.
• Validate people’s emotions by letting them know that it is okay to feel how they feel and that their feelings make sense.
• Pay attention to any signs of increasing violence.

Notice looks (e.g., glares), words (e.g., swearing, accusations, threats), behaviors (e.g., slamming doors), or other signs (e.g., several empty beer bottles) that someone may be unsafe. Act quickly yet thoughtfully.

Decide what plan would be best to use in dealing with the situation. If you already have a plan, decide if it will work in this situation.