The Dutchess County CIRT Team is made up of both peer and professional counselors that provide Critical Incident Stress Management Services to Emergency Responders in Dutchess County. 

The team currently consists of 12 Active Peer Members that come from various backgrounds in Emergency Services, and is supplimented by 3 Professional Support Consultants from the Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene.

Hoping you enjoy your holidays this season.  I wish you a happy and healthy 2005!

This site is designed to keep you up-to-date on the team's activities and continued development.  Be sure to check back often, as items will be added as they are created!

Site Enhancements & Recent Additions

11/07/04 - CIRT Website is Born!

Welcome to the Dutchess CIRT website!  This site is just another example on how our team is slowly growing, and becoming stronger each day.  Because of the tremendous commitment of our membership, I am proud to stand behind the team and call myself their coordinator.  We have a terrific group of trained, experienced, and dedicated individuals that all have a special trait.  That trait is the excellent ability to help others.  Not just by putting a band-aid on a cut, or extinguishing a fire, but also by providing a special kind of help, or "emotional first aid" when times may get tough after a difficult incident.  We have all experienced calls in our careers when we wonder why we do this...  why do we put ourselves into these types of situations where it is our responsibility to care for a severely injured patient, or inform family members that their loved one has died, or perform CPR on the baby that stopped breathing.  But then we begin to realize that we, all of us that are involved in emergency services, do this for one reason...  to help others.  However, with helping others, there is a price to be paid, and we sometimes forget that.  The price that we pay is the emotional impact that these difficult situations sometimes have on us.  And for that, we have established this Critical Incident Response Team, to provide stress management services to our emergency responders here in Dutchess County.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments regarding the team.  Your e-mail will remain strictly confidential, unless you would like us to address it in public.  Please stop by and sign our guest book, and let us know how you like our site.  I thank you for stopping by to take a look, and furthermore, I thank my team members for making this team possible!!   -Steve