TIDES training rests on two foundations: trauma-informed practice and collaborative interventions. These inform three types of work: 

1. Prevention strategies and techniques
2. Response strategies and techniques
3. Trauma-aware physical interventions  
     

1. Prevention

TIDES establishes knowledge around prevention (i.e., ways to keep emergencies from happening) that is based in trauma-informed and person-centered techniques and ideologies. 

This part of TIDES training aims to build strong rapport between staff and the people they serve as well as among teams. It does this by exploring the factors that affect escalation. It develops your assessment skills, and it helps you find ways to mitigate risks. You learn methods of dynamic communication to ensure you and others can respond to emergency situations with empathy and respect..

Six topics comprise the prevention portion of TIDES:

•  Collaborative de-escalation
  • TIDES provides a framework of engagement when planning for interventions during rapidly changing situations.
• Environmental assessments
  • TIDES assesses the environment and related risks to determine your unique perspectives and culture around safety.
• Person-centered, trauma-informed approaches 
  • TIDES follows principles of partnership, respect and inclusion.
• Responding in the moment
  • TIDES explores strategies and tools to help you with self-awareness and self-management during high-stress moments.
• Practice enhancements 
  • TIDES offers 10 practice enhancements, which are 10 practices for building infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration. They originate with an open-source, evidenced-based model of care called Safewards, which reduces conflict and containment within mental health services.
• Wellness and self-care
  • TIDES encourages reflection on reasons and ways to build long-term resilience related to workplace stress.
      

2. Response

Team-based response training is a core component of TIDES. All emergency responses must be coordinated efforts, where staff and agency personnel align with one another and with organizational policies. In this area, TIDES covers two topics:  

• Responding to psychiatric and/or behavioural emergencies (also known as code white in hospital settings) with a structured team response 
• Using a team-based planning approach for responding to non-emergencies that have the potential for escalation and for situations that involve supporting high-risk interventions (i.e., actions for improving situations).
    

3. Trauma-aware physical interventions

TIDES trains four types of physical skills based on trauma-informed and evidence-based literature, which is a unique feature of the program. This puts the safety at the core of interventions.

• Entering and exiting potentially dangerous places
  • This involves using staff supports and engaging in a thorough risk assessment before entering places where there’s a reason to believe an emergency could arise. 
• Mechanical restraints 
  • This involves safe and trauma-aware ways to apply the Pinel restraint system. 
• Self-protection and evasion 
  • These strategies and skills use non-forceful measures and the body’s physiology.
• Team controls
  • These are hands-on techniques for multiple people to use when physically controlling someone.