title: Overcoming the effects of disasters: a rationale for the Kuwaiti CISM Program.
abstract: Data suggest that the people employed in the emergency response professions are under unusually high stress. This factor may adversely affect their social, psychological and emotional well-being. The Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) program was devised by Drs. Jeffrey T. Mitchell and George Everly, Jr. in order to help emergency workers overcome the obstacles that hinder them from performing positively in their chosen fields. The objectives of this paper are twofold: 1) it will report on the results of a study on 108 Kuwaiti firefighters and the relationship between cognitive interpretations and the manifestation of symptoms of PTSD; and, 2) it will describe the development of a CISM program to assist in the recovery from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
authors.affiliation: Kuwait University, Kuwait College of Social Sciences, P.O. Box 68168, Code 71962-Kaifan, State of Kuwait.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: al Naser
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Everly
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: al-Khulaifi
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D016730:Program Development; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D014857:Warfare