Managing Critical Incidents with Nick Arnett
Nick Arnett, author of the Stress Management and Crisis Response pocket guide and his most recent book, Stress into Strength: Resilience Routines for Warriors, Wimps and Everyone in Between (HarperCollins Leadership, 2021), is a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and resilience leader and instructor, fire chaplain, wildland firefighter/EMT with Spring Valley Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service, and former paramedic with experience in domestic and international disaster response in medical, communications, crisis intervention and chaplain roles.
This is not another “how to lower your stress” site. It is not about avoiding stress or how to “get over” or “move on” from trauma or grief. It is about performing your best while challenged. It is an invitation to seek balance and connections rather than one-dimensional fixes. If we grimly regard an experience as a horror to be buried and forgotten, we’ll never find or make meaning. If we ignore trauma and pretend that life is all unicorns and sunshine, we’ll discover, sooner or later, that our brains, bodies and souls are holding onto the pain anyway.
He has led hundreds of crisis intervention responses with the Bay Area CISM Team for schools, the public and first responder agencies, including as a contractor for CAL FIRE. He is a member of the California Fire Chaplain Association, the executive board of the California Peer Support Association, the leadership of CADRE and the Contra Costa County Public Safety Support Association. He received a Volunteer of the Year award from the Santa Clara County Emergency Managers Association in 2012 and the Crystal Bowl Award for community service from the Junior League of San Jose in 2019.
In This Episode