Mission:

The  Southeast Texas Critical Incident Management (SETCISM) Team is a  non-profit volunteer organization that provides critical incident stress  management intervention to any agency requesting assistance following a  crisis or emergency situation.  We provide an organized approach to the  management of traumatic stress reactions experienced by first  responders and others in the community.  The goal  of SETCISM is to assist persons involved in a crisis situation with  techniques to reduce stress related symptoms. The SETCISM Team only  provides immediate crisis intervention and is not designed to replace  on-going professional counseling. Priorities of the  team include respect for the feelings of the individuals involved in  the critical incident and the maintaining of confidentiality of all who  participate. The SETCISM Team is also dedicated to providing  pre-incident education regarding stress, recognition of  stress, and stress reduction strategies.

The  SETCISM team was created as a 501c3 in 1999 and has been active locally  and nationally ever since its inception.  The team is activated using  either direct contact with  the Team President or Clinical Director, or through the emergency  dispatch number which is operated by the Bridge City Fire Department.  The team has been officially deployed over 120 times over the past 20  years primarily to conduct defusings and debriefings  for local emergency service departments.  We have provided CISM  services in over 10 Texas counties.  We have responded to line of duty  deaths, police officer involved shootings, mass casualty incidents,  pediatric fatalities and many other traumatic events.    The team has also responded to other community incidents,  including  suicides at businesses, deaths at local chemical plants, bank robberies  and schools where multiple children have been injured or killed and  school shootings and suicides .  Each time the  team is deployed, the Clinical Director and Team President make a  determinations about how many people to send, how many peers, chaplains  and mental health professionals should be dispatched according to the  type and number of  people expected in attendance.