About the Course

By taking Family Focal Points during critical incidents course, you will learn in an interactive and reflective way which are the responsibilities of a family liaison in the reporting and in the psychosocial accompaniment aspects and which are the limits.

You will understand the responses of a person living a traumatic situation, how to support them, how to use different communication abilities, how to ensure confidentiality and create a trustful relationship with the family.  

Finally, you will learn about the latest investigations in empathetic distress and how to cope training your resilience abilities.

Who is this course for?

This course is for all MSF staff identified as potential candidate to act as Family Focal Point during a critical incident and willing to assume the responsibility.

Learning Objectives

In this course you will learn to:

• identify what is a critical incident and its potential consequences.
• identify the composition of Crisis Team at field level, capital and HQ. Roles. Communication lines.
• identify main actions to do when there is an open and a close incident.
• identify appropriate answer to media, social network, community, community leaders and MSF colleagues when requested to give information about the incident (preserve confidentiality)
• identify what the reporter role entails.
• distinguish the characteristics of a potential traumatic event
• Identify what is normal and worrying reactions at short, medium and long term. 
• Recognize vulnerable family members.
• Identify the impact of incidents specific to each phase...
• identify consequences of living with uncertainty among family members, including psychological ones.
• identify what the families need in each phase, including psychological support.
• identify what FFP can do to accompany families.
• identify the meaning of confidentiality and risks of broken it.
• identify how tow to stablish trustful with families.
• select the most appropriate communication manner during all encounters with the family.
• identify how can affect the stress.
• identify your copying mechanisms.
• recognize how being in contact with family's suffering can affect
• recognize what you can do to take care of yourself (based on stress management)
• identify activities to increase your own resiliency capacity.

List of Contents

The course consists of three modules that will introduce you to:

• Key concepts on Crisis management and communication lines during a critical incident.
• Key responsibilities and limits in the role of family liaison.
• Key concepts on Trauma, its consequences, and normal reactions during and after a traumatic event.
• Families’ main needs during an open incident, including identification of vulnerable family members.
• How to identify individual and family copying resources.
• How to support the family in their needs all along the process, how to empower the family.
• Communication abilities, verbal and nonverbal to apply all along the process, including during difficult moments.
• Reporting abilities.
• Importance of having a trustful relationship with the family. Key concepts on how to stablish and maintain it.  
• Key ideas on the importance of confidentiality.
• Self-care and emotional regulation, abilities to increase your resilience.

Training Approach 

This e-learning course will take around 9 hours, including watching the videos and doing reflexional exercises.

The training has a second part, consisting in a face-to-face workshop. Each mission will select some of the learners to participate in the face-to-face workshop.

The completion of the Psychological First Aid training will be part of the path for the complete training for Family Focal Point.

DURATION: 9h

HOW TO ENROL?

Enrolment with authorization. This program is for staff selected by the mission to perform the role of Family Focal Point during critical incidents.

CERTIFICATION

Upon completion of the three modules, you are entitled a Tembo completion badge and certificate.