Critical decision points in crisis support: using checklists and flow charts in psychological crises

The field of crisis intervention has grown dramatically during the last hundred years. Many new procedures and techniques have been added to the crisis intervention repertoire. Periodically, providers of crisis intervention, psychological first aid, critical incident stress management, or Peer Support overlook important elements of crisis intervention or make inadvertent mistakes as they attempt to intervene. The use of checklists and flow charts, similar to those used in aviation and medicine, may assist crisis intervention personnel in properly assessing a traumatic event and its impact on the people involved. Simple checklists and flow charts may significantly decrease the potential for mistakes in crisis intervention. This article provides background on the development of flip charts in aviation and medicine and suggests how these tools may be utilized within the field of crisis intervention. Examples of checklists and flow charts that are relevant to crisis intervention are provided. The article also provides guidelines for developing additional checklists and flow charts for use in crisis intervention services.