MERCER CO. Police study job stress program

The program would give safety force members the opportunity to discuss their feelings in a confidential setting.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Officers in the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Department may be getting a new program to help them deal with job stress.
James DeCapua, chairman of the police commission which runs the department serving Farrell, Wheatland and West Middlesex, appointed a special committee Tuesday to work with the Fraternal Order of Police to draft a proposal for a critical-incident stress-management program.
The police asked for the program during the last round of contract negotiations and the commission agreed to consider it, DeCapua said.
John A. Libonati, director of pre-hospital care services for UPMC Horizon, and Richard Boland, coordinator of the Pittsburgh Critical Incident Stress Management Team, said they're willing to help. Both addressed the program at Tuesday's police commission meeting.
Boland said the program is designed to help police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service responders deal with the aftermath of high-stress cases.
Death in the line of duty is the most stress those groups might have to face, and the deaths of children by fire or crime is high on the list as well, Boland said.
Volunteers: A critical-incident stress-management team is a group of professionals, psychologists, counselors, firefighters, police officers and others, who volunteer their services to help members of safety forces deal with tough events they encounter in their jobs.
There is no charge for any team services, Boland said.
The Pittsburgh team has been sending groups to New York City to work with emergency responders ever since the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, he said.
Libonati said UPMC Horizon already has a team in place in Mercer County, which has helped at least four police officers and three pre-hospital treatment personnel within the last three months.
Boland said he can provide Southwest Regional with copies of policies adopted by other police agencies. Southwest Regional would be the first department in Mercer county to put a program in place, he said.
The idea is to take care of people who have had to face high stress situations and keep them working, Roland said, contending that studies show this type of help has cut down on stress-related job absenteeism as well as alcoholism among safety forces.
It gives them a chance to express their feelings and concerns in a confidential environment, he said, noting there are 900 teams in the United States today.
The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police have them, he said.