Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP): support for colleagues after impactful events

In aviation, colleagues may encounter challenging situations – on the ramp, during a flight, or even in their private lives – that can have a significant emotional impact. To support pilots in such moments, the Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP) was established.

CIRP consists of fellow pilots who volunteer their time and have been specially trained to conduct peer-support conversations and to recognize signals during the processing of (critical) incidents. Their role is clear: to provide emotional support – nothing more, nothing less.

“An emotional reaction is a normal response from normal people after an abnormal situation.”

How does it work?

After a critical incident, a CIRP Peer Support Volunteer will reach out and offer a follow-up conversation. The colleague decides if and when to accept this offer. During the conversation, information is shared about possible emotional reactions, stress responses, and ways of coping. This always takes place in a confidential and collegial environment.

It’s not only major incidents that can weigh heavily. Smaller events – or a series of experiences – can also lead to significant emotional strain. CIRP is available to provide support in those situations as well.

Always available

For many colleagues, reaching out for help is not easy. That is why CIRP emphasizes: support is always available, and always confidential. Acknowledging emotions after a stressful event is not a weakness, but a normal and healthy step in the recovery process.

Our Maintenance Manager, Mike Bonnema, from Lima, participated in the LMI course, and we had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about it:

My first impression was: what is this this training about ? I had no idea! and with me many others in the classroom.

CIRP exist already within the KLM organization but is not common known.

Basically speaking we as CIRP team are there to contact people whom are at medical sick leave at home due to a traumatic experience at work or in Privat or a hard family situation etc, just to talk with them to find out how they are actually feeling.

It surprised me that this training came for me at the correct moment, during the practical lessons I found out that I was the one who needed to be interview by CIRP and finally could ventilate all my Privat family traumatic experiences with my fellow CIRP student which had more or less the same life experience as I had.

Beside the fact that we are not medical or psychological trained we know now that to make contact with the person and to let him/her talk about his personal situation it may help the person a lot, we can not cure the person but to give him/her the feeling that he is not alone that there is somebody for him/her to talk with . we learned how to ask questions , to listen and to collect information about the personal situation .

I think it is important that CIRP exists because CIRP is discreet , without a file and not recorded , it is just a 1 on 1 conversation no information will be shared with other persons, so it gives the person a safe environment to talk which will hopefully help him to give him ideas, feelings, tools to get back in normal life again.

I would say , first we have to make clear in our organization that CIRP exists , what it means and how it can help you, beside that I would say do not hesitate when you are having hard moments in life, we are there to listen to your story, then you will find the solution yourself.

What motivates me to volunteer ??? well I had no clue what kind of training it was?? My motivation was …mmm maybe it is good for LMI so go for it !!!