D4 - Kardiakeepers: Equipping Church Members and Community Groups with Crisis Response Skills

During my long career as a crisis response trainer, I have engaged with hundreds, if not thousands, of compassionate, good-hearted folks who have a desire to support others in crisis. They attend the ICISF CISM classes and are passionate about putting their newfound skills to work! However, there is not a clear “place” for them to plug in. They don’t have the background or right connections to join a first responder team, and disaster response teams require forethought. For all the right reasons, these teams involve applications, required classes, and references before an individual can be deployed with a one-to-two-week time commitment often required. It can be overwhelming and out of reach for a lot of people. I have been disheartened to watch someone’s excitement and passion for crisis response wane because there is nowhere for them to use the skills. However, many of these folks are already actively engaged in a local church or community group that routinely experiences personal crises and would benefit from trained and purposeful crisis response! The individuals know their group culture and its unique needs, so who better to support group members then them? It has become very evident that there is a huge need for local church and community-based groups to have folks, “peers”, equipped with crisis response skills to support each other.I have always encouraged folks to use their newfound crisis response knowledge and skills at home, church, work, etc. because wherever there are people, there are opportunities for crisis response! This KardiaKeeper (Heart Keepers) training focuses on educating church and community group members in basic crisis response skills. The class is adapted from my “Permission to be Human” course that for over 10 years has better equipped crisis responders to understand the foundations of crisis and crisis response.

*Profession Specific CEs:

This presentation is approved for 1.0 CE Credits by The Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency, Inc. (AACMHA) as an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland.

This presentation is approved for 1 PDH from EAPA- Employee Assistance Professionals Association.

1 CE Credits for NAADAC, This course has been approved by International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider # 87914, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), is responsible for all aspects of the programing.

*Review ICISF World Congress 17 CE website page for additional requirements.