Dealing with Vicarious Trauma A Critical Incident First Responder’s Perspective
Tracks
Monarch Room - In Person Only
| Tuesday, March 3, 2026 |
| 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM |
| Monarch Room |
Overview
Nick Bell, SD Consulting Australia
Details
Three Key Learnings:
Perception and Perspective - The key difference between the two, how to get real perspective on any situation and not be influenced by perception, feelings and emotions. Framing – How to look at a situation and frame it for growth and progress at the individual, team and organisational level. Discomfort is Good – Why feelings of anxiety, stress and deep discomfort are in fact guides for growth, and progress and how to use them for best effect. Resilience – What does it really mean and how to bounce back better than before.
Perception and Perspective - The key difference between the two, how to get real perspective on any situation and not be influenced by perception, feelings and emotions. Framing – How to look at a situation and frame it for growth and progress at the individual, team and organisational level. Discomfort is Good – Why feelings of anxiety, stress and deep discomfort are in fact guides for growth, and progress and how to use them for best effect. Resilience – What does it really mean and how to bounce back better than before.
Speaker
Mr Nick Bell
Owner / Director
SD Consulting Australia
Dealing with Vicarious Trauma A Critical Incident First Responder’s Perspective
Presentation Overview
Dealing with Vicarious Trauma
Nick is an ex- Watch Commander, with 33 years of real operational emergency & crisis management experience. He has dealt with vicarious trauma his entire career and brings an intimate, operational knowledge of countless complex emergency incidents to this session. Nick speaks openly and frankly about case studies, real life incidents and the challenges of helping people in their most difficult moments - loss, failure, devastation, helplessness, and a myriad of confronting situations.
Focus & Aim of the Session
To give participants a completely different perspective on being exposed to trauma, life’s challenges, helping others in the workplace, discomfort and stress that comes with dealing with clients and customers who have suffered a loss and failure event in their lives. The session will be engaging, open and honest.
Key Features & Content of the Session
• Perception and Perspective - The key difference between the two, how to get real perspective on any situation and not be influenced by perception, feelings and emotions.
• Framing – How to look at a situation and frame it for growth and progress at the individual, team and organisational level.
• Situational Awareness – What this really is, how to size up any situation, how to ask the right questions to get the right answers that lead to fast, effective and efficient solutions.
• Critical Thinking – Clarity through basing our decision making on evidence, logic and reasoning.
• Discomfort is Good – Why feelings of anxiety, stress and deep discomfort are in fact guides for growth, and progress and how to use them for best effect.
• Teams & Team Dynamics – How high performance teams are actually built in adversity. Aligning goals.
• Resilience – What does it really mean and how to bounce back better than before.
Nick is an ex- Watch Commander, with 33 years of real operational emergency & crisis management experience. He has dealt with vicarious trauma his entire career and brings an intimate, operational knowledge of countless complex emergency incidents to this session. Nick speaks openly and frankly about case studies, real life incidents and the challenges of helping people in their most difficult moments - loss, failure, devastation, helplessness, and a myriad of confronting situations.
Focus & Aim of the Session
To give participants a completely different perspective on being exposed to trauma, life’s challenges, helping others in the workplace, discomfort and stress that comes with dealing with clients and customers who have suffered a loss and failure event in their lives. The session will be engaging, open and honest.
Key Features & Content of the Session
• Perception and Perspective - The key difference between the two, how to get real perspective on any situation and not be influenced by perception, feelings and emotions.
• Framing – How to look at a situation and frame it for growth and progress at the individual, team and organisational level.
• Situational Awareness – What this really is, how to size up any situation, how to ask the right questions to get the right answers that lead to fast, effective and efficient solutions.
• Critical Thinking – Clarity through basing our decision making on evidence, logic and reasoning.
• Discomfort is Good – Why feelings of anxiety, stress and deep discomfort are in fact guides for growth, and progress and how to use them for best effect.
• Teams & Team Dynamics – How high performance teams are actually built in adversity. Aligning goals.
• Resilience – What does it really mean and how to bounce back better than before.
Biography
Nick Bell joined the NT Fire & Rescue Service in 1987 and was promoted to Watch Commander in 2004, a position he held until his resignation in 2020. He has extensive experience in operational firefighting having responded to and taken command of countless critical incidents including structure fires, motor vehicle accidents, gas leaks, truck accidents, cliff rescues, hazardous material spills and large bushfires. Through SDCA, Nick regularly conducts training workshops for local and interstate businesses on a very wide range of topics in the Crisis & Emergency field.
