We believe our community’s mental health is incredibly important.

Mountain associations in Canada have joined to develop a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team of Peer Responders that offers debrief and defusing services, follow-up peer support, and other resources to mountain professionals who have experienced critical incidents.

Please only call the dispatch line to activate a CISM Peer Responder following a critical incident. Our dispatch line is answered by volunteers from 8am to 8pm daily. For information and other inquiries please email info@helicat.org

What is Critical incident Stress Management (CISM)?

CISM is designed to prevent or mitigate development of post-traumatic stress after critical incidents, including injury or death of a client or colleague in the field, multi-casualty incidents, body recovery, suicide of a colleague, or other consequential events. Trained Peer Responders lead sessions immediately after the incident, where the affected group comes together in a supportive, confidential environment to talk about their experiences, roles, and reactions, without blame.

CISM can help workers defuse highly charged emotional situations, return them to full productivity, improve mental health, increase morale, and reduce resignations of highly trained professionals from critical incident stress (CIS) symptoms.

Training and program development

A fully trained CISM team of volunteer Peer Responders is currently available for dispatch, and future trainings are planned to expand the team. Peer Responders are trained to recognize stress symptoms, defuse and debrief groups that have experienced a critical incident, how to word certain things and interact with people, recognize when someone needs additional help, and to lead the conversation from a personal place.

The ideal applicant is a veteran in the mountain community who has likely experienced their own traumatic event(s) in a backcountry situation, which lends an understanding of what others may be feeling and why, creating a deep level of trust that works toward healing.

Areas and Peer Locations

From Vancouver Island to the east side of the Rockies, Fernie to Bella Coola, the CISM team serves a massive area of the Canadian mountain community.