The Family Assistance Education & Research Foundation (FAERF) has been at the forefront of the evolution of emergency management, combining the head-heart approach for a fully integrated response to survivors of traumatic loss. Practicing consciousness in the workplace involves caring for people first, without exception.
Written by: Carolyn V. Coarsey, Ph.D.
July 2025
When we feel safe, we are capable of generosity, empathy, altruism, growth, and compassion.
-Dr. Stephen and Seth Porges
Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us, by Dr. Stephen and his son, Seth Porges, our July book of the month recommendation, provides a great explanation of why creating an environment where survivors feel emotionally safe, following trauma, is essential to their short and long-term recovery. Physical safety was always at the forefront of all emergency plans within communities, including response to traumatic loss in the workplace. For example, before the passing of the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996, families of the deceased and other survivors were not included in any federal requirements for post-traumatic response. Fortunately, other response plans today throughout the world, featuring titles like “Trauma Informed Response,” include discussions of emotional safety.
Our Human Services Response™ Training, based on ongoing interviews with survivors of traumatic loss in the workplace and our long-term case study research, continues to highlight the importance of creating an environment where survivors feel that their emotional needs are a major consideration for the responders. The sacred relationship that exists between survivors and employees who work for the organization where a crisis occurs is honored best when the company prepares employees to do their best at supporting survivors the moment the trauma occurs. In polyvagal theory, the need for immediacy of an empathic response is explained – the longer emotional support is delayed, the longer the survivor feels emotionally unsafe.
Polyvagal Theory (PVT)
PVT is a new model for how our nervous system and entire body responds to, and changes with, how safe or threatening the world feels to us. Understanding PVT helps us know more about supporting survivors in our roles as care and special assistance team members.
The vagus nerve is one of twelve nerves that originates in the brainstem and offers direct lines between the brainstem and key parts of the body. Unlike the other nerves attached to the brainstem that are attached to one part of the body and serve one function, the vagus nerve is not limited to one destination in the body. Because of being connected to so many parts of our body, it serves as the conductor, allowing the body to work together as a cohesive unit.
It is through the vagus that feelings of safety and threat bounce up and down through our entire bodies, changing our emotions and the ways we feel—as well as how our bodies, organs, and senses operate on a physical level. Trauma is the defining health threat of the 21st century—and as care and special team members, we can utilize the newer research such as this theory to improve our responses to survivors of trauma in our work environment.
Trauma is not a purely psychological issue; it is also physical and physiological. Trauma is not isolated to the brain, but stretches throughout our nervous system to every part of our body, affecting how our organs operate and just about every aspect of our physical and mental health. Trauma also embeds itself in all parts of the body—and therefore is effectively treated with more than talk therapy. A great discussion of this topic is contained in Bessel van der Kolk’s well-known book, entitled The Body Keeps Score (2014).
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Fight, Flight
The ANS is a component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates voluntary physiological processes, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and sexual arousal. It contains three automatic distinct divisions, sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric (second brain in the gastrointestinal tract).
The Parasympathetic System (PNS)
The PNS calms us and slows us down so we can rest and relax. While this is usually considered a good thing in the aftermath of survival, it has often been associated with a freeze response that, in some cases, can be harmful if not fatal.
Empowerment of Survivors
Understanding the PVT allows us to see why empowerment is key to helping survivors feel safe with company employees when a company has a plan, and can provide them with choices and options for moving forward during a very difficult time.
I like the way you have set up this system. This hotel we are in feels like a cocoon. We have everything we need while we wait for the coroner and the medical team to identify our loved ones, so we can take them home for burial.
–A survivor talking to me in the hotel (Family Assistance Center, FAC), as she waited for her son to be identified after an airline crash where over 200 passengers and crew were killed
Many survivors provide us with positive feedback about the system we use to support them in the aftermath of tragedy. Providing toll-free numbers, where they can access the company call center quickly, or reach someone within the company goes a long way in helping a family feel safe and like they can count on us to support them as information unfolds. Providing travel, if it is possible for those who wish to travel to the site of the accident to learn more about the tragedy and be reunited with their loved one(s).
The Family Assistance Center (FAC) as described by the mother above allows for all practical needs to be met under one roof, reducing stress for basic needs that all humans have, i.e., shelter, food, connection with others — and most importantly, information from authorities and others who hold valuable facts that can help stabilize a very difficult time in a family’s life.
In summary, understanding PVT provides the learner with far more than the basics included in this article, which is targeted at educating employee response teams on what often drives survivor responses in the aftermath of a crisis — and the importance of creating an environment where they feel safe. Polyvagal Theory is applicable to anyone looking to live their safest, healthiest, and happiest life. PVT emerges as a worldview filled with optimism and hope and an understanding as to why our bodies and sometimes act in ways our brains wish they didn’t. I highly recommend reading this book and checking out other resources on the topic.
Stay tuned for part two in next month’s Consciousness@Work.