Deployed troops better prepared to deal with trauma thanks to TRiM
Nominated category: Mental Health Award
Mental Health is an important issue within the defence forces, one that is constantly being developed to create better support for service personnel. Many soldiers witness traumatic circumstances as part of their operations, which can lead to mental health problems that affect their daily lives and performance.
The Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) training programme has been devised to tackle this and is being delivered to large numbers of deploying troops in order to improve awareness of physiological trauma after critical incidents.
TRiM allows units to take a proactive approach to the management of military personnel involved in traumatic events and improve their psychological management. It is a proactive non-medical system where unit personnel provide risk assessments, accurately assessing how personnel are coping after their experiences. It provides an early opportunity to spot those who might not be coping well, where they can be referred for professional medical help. Early targeted intervention means those in need can be more effectively treated.
In each of the last 3 brigades deploying to theatre, more than 200 personnel have been trained in TRiM. In the last year, more than 2000 Army personnel have been trained by the TRiM Training Cell (TTC) across the world and the initiative is being used widely in Afghanistan.
TRiM training is delivered by a dedicated team consisting of seven experienced Warrant Officers and a late entry Major. All are from various regiments and are actively involved in the organisation and training of Army personnel, both Regular and TA. The team delivers detailed and intensive training to non-medical personnel enabling them to support and work alongside those who are medically qualified to improve the management of soldiers after combat and other traumatic events. Medical personnel are also trained in TriM, which is important as they are a high risk group who are routinely exposed to trauma, particularly on operations.
TRiM also has non-operational applications and can be used after road traffic accidents and other such traumatic events.
By training large numbers of personnel, the Trim Training Cell is providing an important operational capability that may help to reduce the number of psychiatric cases in the long term. Their success is due to the diligence of the team, who with limited time and resources have developed a training scheme which is now regarded as an initiative of excellence, quickly gaining credibility with the chain of command and resulting in an extension of the capability to the Royal Air Force.
By providing a structured framework and improved awareness training, the TRiM programme is actively helping to remove the stigma attached to mental health issues in the Armed forces.