Exposure of Park Management Staff in Victoria, Australia to Critical Incidents and Trauma: Rethinking Our Approach

Abstract

Park management staff regularly respond to incidents in parks that can lead them to experience or witness trauma. These incidents include assaults, suicides, anti-social behaviour, search and rescue operations, wildfires, and deaths and serious injuries caused by accidents. Exposure can generate what is known as Critical Incident Stress. Staff are often first responders for many of these incidents but are not typically seen by their agencies as performing emergency service functions except when being tasked to fire or flood response. This paper explores how one agency, Parks Victoria, has approached managing staff exposure to trauma. It argues that historically, there has been a focus on the management and prevention of physical injuries in the workplace, and a tendency to restrict recognition of stress impacts on staff to those incidents tied to natural disasters such as wildfires. Numerous strategic actions to address this shortfall are suggested and explored. The discussion has relevance to other park management agencies and reflects the author’s experience working in park management in different parts of Australia over the last twentyfive years.