Back to: Linking to Care, Point of Care Testing (POCT). Aotearoa Edition
Some of the content of this section may be confronting or triggering, in Aotearoa reach out to Are You Ok, Shine, Womens Refuge, CAB, Pet Refuge, Youthline, Tautoko Tane, Shakti… there are many more; a google search may help. Internationally there will be support services somewhere… or view these sites for info… many of these sites have a hide my visit function
Here’s a short video to get us thinking about personal safety, in very general daily terms
Risk Mitigation and less can be more
We can take simple measures in our daily lives and activities to reduce the risk of placing ourselves in compromising situations. Working within community we can lessen our risk of threat or compromise from others by respecting and living the key learnings from our previous lessons. Respecting medical in confidence, working within guidelines medical ethics present, and using our integrity, honesty and respect, to give and gain trust will reduce the risk of antagonizing or giving others reason to act in a threatening manner.
Compromise doesn’t just mean the risk of physical threat; compromise can be placing yourself or your organisation in jeopardy from your actions. This is where our “no surprise” policy can be an asset for your personal safety. Disclose early and honestly and a majority of the time the issues can be dealt with without major issue. Non-disclosure or dishonesty in hiding or denying can only end badly.
A few tips for Personal Safety
Always leave a work and travel plan with someone before you leave for the day, if that’s not possible let someone know that your days plan will always be on your fridge door (for example). Consider google location sharing with a partner, family member or someone you trust.
- Be alert and stay alert
- awareness is your best defence, if the little red flags start waving start looking at the other tips and access the situation.
- Have emergency contact on your phone, and possibly set as quick calls. Keep a copy of these numbers written in a safe place in case you lose your phone.
- Be confident – even if you don’t feel it.
- Trust your instincts.
- Some describe gut feelings as a small internal voice, some research suggests gut instinct is a flood of acid released into the stomach as a primitive warning of somethings not right. Others call it a rapid onset of anxiety. Either way, fair to say it’s likely a good call to trust your instincts.
- Be aware of all your surroundings.
- If you’re setting up in a new location or venue, arrive a few minutes early and familiarise yourself, if your happy or it doesn’t feel right, change.
- Preplan and check your maps before you need them.
- Leave with friends or colleagues wherever possible.
- Travel with friends or colleagues, ask others to escort you to car parks or as far as areas with more people or activity.
- Travel as if you know where you are going.
- Take the most direct route and try to stay within areas where other people are around.
- Try to stay in well-lit areas.
- Avoid anything that does not feel safe.
- If you suddenly find you don’t feel safe, consider the most direct route to where know it’s safer or where more people are around.
- Anticipate possible problems.
- Look at local travel sites, are there protests, road closures…
- Be vigilant and prepared for anything.
- Within reason, try not to become paranoid and afraid of everything, just healthy levels of aware.
- Report suspicious activity.
- Call it in early, and if in doubt make the call.
A few tips for conducting POCT testing, the key is keeping yourself closest to the exit and using tables or trays to create barriers between the wai ora, you and the exit.
If things start to feel wrong, they are wrong. Get out. Worried your sudden departure may trigger someone, simply say you suddenly feel unwell and need to step outside for a breath of fresh air. Or stand up and leave.
- In a mobile setting, ie a van
- Step out of the van, invite the wai ora in first, then enter. This way you are closest to the door (the exit). Another good idea is to have a table the wai ora is behind, another barrier allowing you a fast exit.
- Leave the exit open
- Keep your mobile on your person as much as possible
- Keep your personal belongings secured out of sight and out of reach.
- Where possible have an assistant, buddy or colleague with you. Remember collaborative coordinated approaches to testing, safety in numbers.
- In a building
- The same principles as in a mobile setting apply.
- Always leave the test room, invite and allow our wai ora to enter first and direct them to the seat farthest from the exit as you enter to your seat closest to the exit.
- If you or colleagues have any safety concerns in relation to the community group or individual you are planning to work with, ensure you have a buddy or colleague with you.
- Familiarise yourself, and others, with the building’s health and safety requirements. Fire, earthquakes, disasters. If it’s a large site insist on sighting where exit points, fire extinguishers and emergency locations are.
- Where visitor registers are in use, sign in sign out. If you’re on the register they will come find you.
If things start to feel wrong, they are wrong. GET OUT.
The following is largely from two family violence sites, Are You Ok and White Ribbon. The messaging is absolutely applicable to any situation of possible violence, confrontation, even your response(s). Please click on the two links and have a good read of the content. No violence is ok.
Violence is a choice.
No-one makes us do it, we own our bodies and how we use them.
We own our voices and how we use them.
We own our emotions and how we handle them.
Safe Time Out: we need to be able to read the signs of our own state of “getting wound up” and taking safe time out when we notice we are getting wound up, agitated or wanting to respond personally.
- calmly state “I need to take safe time out”
- leave the situation
- do something physical like go for a walk
- use positive self-talk: “the only person I need to be in control of is me, I need to calm down”
- talk to someone who can help you calm down
- arrange another time to talk or meet again when everyone is calmer and likely ready to talk
This is about YOU. Back in section 8, Behaviour, we talked about Psychological First Aid (PFA). This is about you and your wai ora, Look Listen, Link.
- Look; identifying there is an issue or problem
- Listen; simple, listen. We are not there as councillors, lets link our wai ora to appropriate trained persons where-ever possible.
- Link; Linking to the appropriate support, with a health approach that responds to their preferences and needs.
Some of the content of this section may have been confronting or triggering. In Aotearoa reach out to Are You Ok, Shine, Womens Refuge, CAB, Pet Refuge, Youthline, Tautoko Tane, Shakti… there are many more; a google search may help. Internationally there will be support services somewhere… or view these sites for info… many of these sites have a hide my visit function
