Critical Incident Response

Heartland AEA provides a full range of support for school districts during and after a critical incident. From concentrated to comprehensive, our response efforts are tailored to meet the needs of each district/school. Specially trained AEA critical incident response teams offer additional access to evidence-based practices in critical incident responses and postvention for students and staff. 

Critical Incidents

Critical incidents are what schools deal with most frequently and have been defined as “events that are relatively rare, unexpected, unpredictable, have a sudden onset and seem to strike from nowhere.” Examples of critical incidents are serious illnesses, accidents or the death of a person(s) in the school community. 

Emergency Response

This differs from emergency response in that the emergency response is designed for a broad situation (natural disaster, fire, bomb, mass shooting, etc.) after which a critical incident response may occur. 

When district staff and helping professionals may be directly or indirectly impacted by a critical incident, a collaborative partnership with the AEA can bring districts peace of mind. 

Important Information to Consider When Initiating a Response

Any or all of the below information is valuable when considering what types of support, numbers and resources will be useful. District staff are encouraged to initiate a response even with limited information to help expedite the deployment of the Critical Incident Response team. 

• The nature of the critical incident.
• The name(s) of students or staff involved.
• The date of the incident.
• The names of the parents, family members or connections in the district (i.e., coach, teacher, leader).
• Siblings and their grades and buildings.
• The facts surrounding the incident and what the family wants shared.
• If the individual died by suicide, is the family comfortable with identifying that this was a suicide death?
• The district point person and their contact information.
• The person who may serve as your home-to-school liaison for the family and their contact information.

Following the Response

Following the critical incident response, the district and Heartland AEA will engage in a defusing meeting to identify what went well and areas for improvement.