Critical Incident Response, 24 hours a day.
One call to the usual Foremind 1800 number starts a clinically led response.
A qualified mental health professional assesses what's happened, who's been affected and what support is needed.
One number. Any hour.
Your people don't need a different number for nights, weekends or public holidays. Every call is answered as Foremind by a trained call handler, who works out what's needed and moves it down the right path.
Same 1800 number, every hour of the year
Answered as Foremind, never an anonymous call centre
Trained handlers, not a message-taking service
Triaged on the call and routed to the right clinician
You call the usual Foremind 1800 number
The number doesn't change after hours.
A trained call handler answers
They take basic details: name, contact number, organisation, what's happened and whether immediate support is needed. They don't assess or diagnose.
The call is routed on need, not on paperwork
Critical incidents and requests for immediate support go straight into the clinical pathway. Routine bookings are handled without tying up a clinician.
A qualified mental health professional takes over
A counsellor, social worker, Accredited Mental Health Social Worker or psychologist assesses the situation, any immediate risk and what should happen next.
What counts as a critical incident
A significant or potentially traumatic workplace event that has caused, or could cause, substantial psychological distress or disruption.
You don't need to decide whether it meets a clinical threshold. If you're concerned, call us and our clinical team will assess it.
- Workplace fatality or serious injury
- Suicide or attempted suicide
- Violence or assault
- Serious threats
- Robbery
- Serious accidents and near misses
- Traumatic death
- Natural disaster
- Exposure to traumatic events or material
What we can put in place immediately
Clinical assessment and triage
What's happened, who's affected, what's needed.
Manager and HR consultation
Support for the people running the response, from first contact.
Telephone and video support
Help starts before anyone arrives on site.
Psychological First Aid-informed care
Contemporary, trauma-informed practice.
Risk assessment and escalation
Including referral to specialist or emergency services.
Onsite clinical attendance
Mobilised where it's clinically indicated.
Confidential individual counselling
For anyone affected, ongoing.
Practical guidance
How to communicate with staff and what workplace supports help.
If there is an immediate threat to life or safety, emergency services come first.
How quickly we respond
- 24/7 access
- The Foremind number is answered around the clock.
- Initial clinical response
- Within 2 hours of notification, and sooner where possible.
- After hours
- Clinical response targeted within 90 minutes where practicable.
- Metro onsite
- Approximately 3 hours where practicable; allow up to 24 hours where earlier attendance can't be achieved.
- Regional and remote
- Telephone and video support begins immediately; onsite attendance arranged as soon as reasonably practicable.
Onsite timeframes depend on location, clinician availability, travel, site access and safety.
What happens on site
We follow contemporary trauma-informed practice. We don't bring people together for compulsory debriefing or ask anyone to recount the incident in detail.
Where group support helps, the clinician runs a voluntary information and support session. They also stay available in a private space for confidential one-on-one conversations.
Anyone who'd rather speak with a different practitioner can book confidential counselling through the Foremind platform.
A voluntary session covers
- Common reactions after a difficult event
- Practical coping strategies
- What people might experience over the coming days
- Staying safe and connected
- Where to get more help, and when to ask for it
Support for managers and HR
You're not left to work out the response on your own. From the first call, our clinical team can help you understand the workforce impact, communicate with staff, support distressed team members, recognise who may need more help, decide what level of response is appropriate and plan follow-up.
Before any onsite practitioner attends, they'll check in with your nominated contact to confirm what's changed, who's affected and what's expected from the visit.
What you'll be told, and what stays private
Individual counselling conversations remain confidential. HR receives what it needs to manage the broader response: how many employees accessed support, the types of support delivered, non-identifying workforce themes, emerging needs and whether further support is advised.
Where several employees independently raise a broader workplace concern, we can flag that the issue exists without identifying individuals.
We don't stop at the first response
Each touchpoint lets our clinical team check how your people are tracking, pick up delayed reactions, and arrange further onsite support, counselling or specialist referral if it's needed.
Not ready to talk? Fair play.
Download our one-pager to share with your team first.
Answers to the frequently asked questions.
What is a critical incident in the workplace?+
A critical incident is any sudden, unexpected event that falls outside the range of normal workplace experience and has the potential to cause psychological distress for those involved. It isn't defined by the severity of the event alone — it's defined by the impact on the people who witnessed, responded to, or were affected by it. Two people can experience the same event very differently.
What types of events are considered critical incidents?+
Common examples include workplace fatalities or serious injuries, suicide or the sudden death of a colleague, armed robbery, assault or aggression from customers or the public, natural disasters, serious near-misses, and significant organisational events such as restructures or large-scale redundancies. Emergency services, healthcare, retail, transport and construction workers are exposed more often, but no workplace is immune.
How quickly should support be provided after a critical incident?+
Early contact matters. Most providers aim to make initial contact within hours and have someone on site or available by phone or telehealth within 24 to 48 hours, depending on location and the number of people affected. Early intervention helps reduce the risk of longer-term psychological injury, though support should remain available for weeks afterwards, as reactions often surface later.
What are the risks if employees don't receive support?+
Untreated trauma responses can develop into acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression or substance misuse. Organisationally, this often shows up as increased absenteeism, presenteeism, workers' compensation claims and turnover. There's also a compliance dimension: Australian WHS legislation requires employers to manage psychosocial hazards, including exposure to traumatic events, so far as is reasonably practicable.
What role do managers play?+
Not counselling — making sure people are safe, communicating honestly, connecting staff to support, and monitoring the team over following weeks. Managers are affected too, and are often overlooked in the response.