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
References
- ^ "Death notification: Breaking the bad news". Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ^ "ProQuest - Databases, EBooks and Technology for Research". www.csa.com. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ^ "Casualty Assistance Calls Program". www.public.navy.mil. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- ^ a b Seim, Carrie (2014-06-04). "What It's Like to Deliver Bad News for a Living". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2014-06-05.