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By knowing what to do in a particular crisis, you can limit damage and find suitable professional help.
Find out in advance how to deal with problems, since it can be challenging to think clearly in the midst of a tense situation.
Handling Crisis Situations
Crisis Action Prevention
Assault / Rape:
- Contact police: Inform the police immediately. Do not wash or change your clothes. Your appearance may provide vital evidence.
- Seek medical help: Have any injuries treated that day or the next morning. Ask someone to take you for treatment – you may be too shocked to go by yourself.
- Make notes: Write down everything that you can remember about an attack.
- Ask for support: Call a relative or friend for practical help and moral support.
- Maintain confidence: Make yourself go out in public as soon as you can so that you will not lose your confidence.
- Secure your car Lock your car when you are inside it. Roll up windows before you stop at traffic lights.
- Dress comfortably: If you are a woman, cover revealing clothing. Wear flat shoes so that you can walk comfortably
- Look confident: Check your route beforehand. Walk briskly. Be calmly aware of what is going on around you.
- Shake off followers: If you suspect that someone is following you, walk away, cross the street, or go into a store.
- Plan in advance: Find your keys before you reach your house, so that you do not have to linger on the doorstep.
Theft/ Mugging
Avoid violence: If a mugger becomes violent, hand over your money or purse immediately. If you resist and struggle with the person, you may be injured.
Contact police: Find a police officer as soon as possible. Ask the police for a report on the crime for insurance purposes.
Contact your bank: Cancel any credit or debit cards, and let the bank know if your checkbook has been stolen.
Make notes: Try to write down as much as you can remember about the attacker’s appearance. Note where you were attacked; the mugger may target other people in the same area.
Dress sensibly: Wear comfortable clothes, and dress in a way that will not attract attention to yourself. Avoid wearing a lot of jewelry or any other expensive items, such as a gold wristwatch.
Organize cash: If you will be visiting an area where muggers are known to operate, carry some loose money in an inexpensive purse or wallet. If you are attacked, hand this over.
Protect valuables: If you are on vacation and have to carry valuable items such as a passport or travelers’ checks, conceal these items in a money belt or inside a hidden pocket.
Burglary
Repel burglars: If burglars are still in your home, make a noise to scare them away. Do not confront them.
Contact police: Contact the police immediately. Do not disturb the scene of the crime until the police have finished examining it. Ask them to write a report for you to send to your insurers.
Contact your insurers: Telephone immediately. If nobody is there, leave a message stating the time of the burglary.
Change locks: If the entry has been forced or you suspect that the burglar may have a key, change the locks immediately.
Replace locks: Change the locks as soon as you move into a new home, or if your keys are stolen.
Lock up securely: Lock windows and doors whenever you go out. If you feel vulnerable, lock outside doors even when you are in the house.
Make your home look occupied: Before going away, put timers on light switches in heavily used rooms. If you go out for a short time, leave a radio or television on.
Hide valuables: Situate expensive or valued items so that opportunist burglars cannot see them through windows.
Handling Personal Traumas
Trauma Action Problem Prevention
Loss of work: Finding another job Reassess your abilities and experience, update your resume, and turn your search for new employment into a project.
Filling time: Plan your time on a day- to-day and week-by-week basis. Set yourself tasks – even reading a newspaper.
Retraining: Learn a new skill that will complement your previous profession or is something you have always wanted to do, such as speaking a foreign language.
Sorting finances: Talk to your bank and other financial institutions if you anticipate difficulties in making payments.
Working in the interim: Consider alternative kinds of work, or voluntary work, on a temporary basis. Keeping active Make sure that you lake regular exercise, maintain your appearance to boost your confidence, and have regular changes of scene.
Feeling positive: Learn how to cope with negative feelings about your abilities and self-worth.
Adjusting to others: If you are spending a lot more time with family members, allow each other space and time for readjustment to new roles.
Realizing ambitions: Look upon the turn of events as an opportunity to learn new skills and take up new interests.
Treating yourself: Buy yourself a small treat, especially if you are feeling low, even if it is just a bunch of flowers.
Relationship breakdown: Making practical arrangements If you are unable to stay in your home, find a temporary sanctuary while you soil out die problem. If you have financial or other difficulties, seek qualified advice.
Reassuring children: However young the children involved are, keep them informed, answer their questions honestly, and stress the positive aspects of the family that will not change.
Considering counseling: Seek the help of professionals if you need advice about your legal rights and obligations, if you want manïage counseling or conciliatory arbitration, and if you need personal counseling or therapy.
Expressing feelings: Expect a range of emotions — whether you instigated the separation or you are the rejected partner – including shock, anger, guilt, and grief. Do not suppress them.
Making Decisions: Do not be rushed into making important decisions about your future while you are very upset.
Gaining perspective: Try to balance distorted thoughts about the world being full of couples or your ex-partner’s unparalleled virtues with positive, more realistic appraisals.
Keeping busy: Distract yourself by keeping fit, going out with friends, or thinking up a new project.
Bereavement Reporting a death: Call out a doctor to confirm the death of someone at home.
Organizing papers: Obtain a death certificate from the person’s doctor, register the death with the local registrar, and, if you have no instructions about the deceased’s will, contact his or her bank or lawyer for any information.
Informing family and friends: Use the deceased’s address book to make sure that everyone is informed of the death.
Planning a funeral: Make any arrangements that the deceased has requested. Alternatively, organize a ceremony that you think would be appropriate. Arrange a wake or simple gathering for mourners after the funeral. Seeing the body Ask to view the body of the deceased if you believe that this will help you to accept the death.
Expressing grief: Acknowledge your emotions, and allow yourself to express them. Take your time over grieving.
Talking to family and friends: Discuss your loss and reminisce with people who knew the deceased,
Looking after yourself: Do not neglect yourself physically, and ask friends for help if you feel lonely or unable to cope.
Accepting change: When you are ready, acknowledge the changes to your circumstances by instigating other changes yourself – such as taking up a new hobby or doing a course.
