Social:Casualty notification
Casualty notification is the process of notifying relatives of people who have been killed or seriously injured unexpectedly (for example, in a car crash). The notification may be done over the phone or in person, but is normally done by a police officer in person when possible, at least for the next of kin.[1] In the case of the United States armed forces, the notification is done by a specialist known as a casualty notification officer (CNO), normally within four hours of learning of the casualty (but only from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. local time)[2] or, for the Navy, by a casualty assistance calls officer (CACO).[3]
Denny Hayes, who spent fifteen years as a chaplain for the FBI’s critical response team, says:
- Always deliver bad news in person.
- Always bring a partner (“95 percent of them defer to me to do the actual speaking of the words—nobody wants to experience sad”).
- Skip the euphemisms—they comfort no one except the person speaking them.
- Never abandon anyone until they have someone else to hold on to.[4]
"You can’t make it better," said Dr. Nancy Davis, former chief of counseling services for the FBI. "But you can definitely make it worse."[4]
See also
- Death notification
References
- ↑ "Death notification: Breaking the bad news". http://www.officer.com/article/10249064/death-notification-breaking-the-bad-news. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ↑ "ProQuest - Databases, EBooks and Technology for Research". http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/death/review6.php. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ↑ "Casualty Assistance Calls Program". http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/CASUALTY/CACO/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Seim, Carrie (2014-06-04). "What It's Like to Deliver Bad News for a Living". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/what-its-like-to-deliver-bad-news-for-a-living/372031/. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
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