Newton Community and Healthcare Foundation: What's New

Newton Ccommunity and Healthcare Foundation

Grant Allows Trauma Stress Training

A tragic accident occurs. Emergency crews work the scene, assist the injured, remove the dead.

Now, who helps the emergency crews handle the stress of the trauma?

The Harvey County Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team is a peer-support group of responders, clergy and mental health professionals trained to minimize the harmful effects of a critical incident on emergency responders.

The Harvey County CISM Team, established in 1997, is a 28-member group which also provides training to newly-established CISM Teams. Recently, the team sponsored basic and advanced training courses for individuals with help from a $2,500 grant provided by Newton Community & Healthcare Foundation.

"The grant helped offset the cost of our instructors," said team member Richard Parsons. "Our goal was to make the training as affordable for students as possible, keeping the tuition as reasonable as we could.

"The grant from Newton Community & Healthcare Foundation was a big help, and we're especially thankful to the foundation for its support," Parsons added.

For more information on Critical Incident Stress Management or upcoming training sessions, contact Richard Parsons, 316-799-1200 or 800-823-9781.