Responding after a crisis

Traumatic incident teams can help schools and early learning services to prepare for, manage and respond to traumatic events.

Level of compliance Main audience Other

Inform

  • Boards
  • Principals and Tumuaki
  • All Early Learning Services
  • Educators, Teachers and Kaiako
  • Police
  • Red Cross and Other First Responders
  • National Emergency Management Agency
  • Transport Providers
  • Education Outside the Classroom Providers

What a traumatic incidents team does

Our traumatic incidents teams can:

  • help you develop appropriate processes for dealing with an incident to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your children/young people and staff
  • help you develop appropriate processes to return your early learning service or school to normal operations as quickly as possible
  • help you understand the emotional and psychological impacts of a traumatic incident and the effects such impacts can have on how people behave
  • advise you on things you can do to support people who have been involved in a traumatic incident
  • advise you on how to communicate about the incident appropriately with your children/young people, staff, parents and the community, including the media
  • link you with other appropriate services where necessary.

Our staff don’t provide counselling but they may be able to help direct you to suitable counselling services.

How to contact a traumatic incident team

We have traumatic incident teams based in all Ministry offices around the country.

Contact them at any time through your local office or by phone.

Freephone (NZ only): 0800 848 326 

Learning support services

More resources for an emergency response

The following checklist leads you through 9 steps to responding to an emergency or traumatic incident.

The following guide will assist you to support your staff and students after an incident has happened and to minimise risk to others.

Find out how to support your students and colleagues after an earthquake.

Tips and tools for supporting people after an earthquake

The following information and resources will guide you through suicide response and prevention.

Suicide Prevention – Mental Health Foundation(external link)

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