Air traffic control incidents-post-incident support and follow up

Major aviation disasters in which air traffic control (ATC) causal factors are involved have, fortunately, been extremely rare. However, data from ATC incident and accident investigations indicate quite strongly that some controllers suffer both immediate and more long term effects from having been involved in an occurrence. It is a point worth emphasising that the occurrence in question need not have had a disastrous outcome or involved loss of life. Controllers who have been involved in potentially serious events, even when there has been a "happy" outcome, have also been found to experience post incident stress as a result. A controller who has acquitted him- or herself well in such an event, may get a pat on the back and a "well done" from the boss, but may still need to talk over the incident and his or her role in it. While the need to support a controller after a serious incident or accident may be fairly well recognised, it is perhaps not so intuitively obvious that controllers involved in "less serious" occurrences may also need help or, at least, a sympathetic ear. For some, it appears that having been involved at all is the crucial factor, not the gravity of the outcome. There are benefits for the both the individual and ATC unit if he or she can be helped to recover from incident induced stress. This applies when dealing with the short term effects, but also in the prevention of future health or emotional problems