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Grand Rapids event focuses on critical incident response

May 11, 2007

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--A continuing education session designed to help organizations prepare to respond to critical incidents will be offered by Western Michigan University's School of Social Work Friday, May 18, at the WMU-Grand Rapids campus in downtown Grand Rapids.

"When Tragedy Strikes: An Introduction to Critical Incident Response," will be offered from 8:15 a.m. to noon at the WMU Graduate Center-Downtown, located at 200 Ionia Ave., S.W. Conducting the training will be Jeff Gorter, MSW, national account manager for Crisis Care Network and adjunct professor at the WMU School of Social Work in Grand Rapids.

The continuing education session will present trends in the occurrence of critical incidents and examine various key principles related to the topic. It is designed to prepare participants to serve in a consulting role and will include psychological first aid principles for organizations, individuals and work groups. The session also will cover the topics of mass disaster and cultural competency, how to organize a response to incidents in the workplace, and how to promote resilience and self care.

This training is approved by the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative, an authorized provider of the American Board of Social Work, for three continuing education hours. The event is open to government employees and representatives of any school, agency or company looking for critical responder training.

The cost for the training session is $25 for WMU alumni and $35 for others attending. There is an additional $20 fee for the CE certificate. Parking and continental breakfast are included in the training cost.

To register or receive more information, contact Jean Hibbard at jean.hibbard@wmich.edu or (616) 771-9470.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

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