Crisis Prevention Intervention
The Life-Saving Skill Every School, Hospital, and Workplace Needs: Crisis Prevention Intervention Training
If you are looking for CPI Certification the two best programs are:
Crisis Consultant Group certification — $139
Crisis Prevention Institute certification — $1,849
Chaotic situations can arise at any moment — a screaming child having a meltdown, an angry patient lashing out, a disgruntled employee making threats. Without proper crisis prevention intervention training, these everyday crises can quickly escalate into dangerous territory.
That’s why over 10,000 organizations globally have turned to crisis prevention intervention (CPI) training to equip their staff with the skills needed to safely diffuse tense situations. This evidence-based program has a proven track record of reducing injuries, enhancing workplace culture, and saving lives.
In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore:
- What Exactly is CPI Training?
- Who Needs CPI Skills & Why?
- What Are the Benefits of CPI Training Programs?
- What Does CPI Training Cover?
- Why CPI Stands Out From Other Options
- How to Get Started With CPI Training
Let’s dive in to learn why CPI training is considered an essential investment for any school, healthcare facility, human services organization or corporation today.
What Exactly is Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Training?
CPI training began over 38 years ago as an evidence-based program to provide staff across healthcare, education, human services and related fields with proven strategies for safely managing aggressive behavior in crisis situations.
It has since expanded into the global leader in crisis intervention training, offering specialized programs tailored across industrial sectors. Over 15,000 CPI Certified Instructors have together trained over 15 million staff worldwide.
At its core, CPI training revolves around verbal de-escalation techniques to defuse crisis situations before they become dangerous. It also incorporates gentle physical intervention skills as an absolute last resort if someone poses an immediate safety threat.
But it emphasizes crisis prevention by getting to the root causes and warning signs so situations can be redirected before reaching the point of violence or harm.
Who Needs CPI Skills & Why?
While crisis situations can arise anywhere, CPI training programs have become ubiquitous requirements for staff in settings like:
- Schools
- Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities
- Mental Health Treatment Centers
- Group Homes & Residential Care
- Human Services Organizations
- Corporations & Workplaces
- First Responder Teams
- Correctional Facilities
- Nursing & Assisted Living Homes
Any setting managing vulnerable populations or tense interactions has likely already integrated CPI training into its staff development or made it a mandatory qualification.
Here’s why it’s so critical across these high-risk sectors today:
Schools
Teachers face students struggling with learning disabilities, bullying issues, trauma at home, and more — a powder keg for violent meltdowns. Equipping teachers with CPI verbal de-escalation and gentle restraint techniques is vital for maintaining safety.
Healthcare Facilities
Between volatile patients, stressful workloads, accessibility issues and communication breakdowns, violence against healthcare workers has hit epidemic levels with over 75% assaulted annually. CPI skills build healthcare teams’ confidence to address aggressive patients.
Human Services
Staff in group homes, shelters, case management and social services routinely encounter clients in crisis dealing with trauma, addiction issues and psychiatric disorders. Nonviolent crisis intervention training is essential to their work.
First Responders
Officers answering domestic dispute calls or intervening in drug-induced emergencies require advanced CPI techniques to contain situations without causing further harm.
What Are the Benefits of Crisis Prevention Intervention Training Programs?
The impact of equipping staff with nonviolent crisis intervention skills through CPI training reaches across overall organizational culture, not just crisis response. Benefits include:
Decreased Injuries
Data shows aggression-related injuries to staff plunge by 50–100% following organization-wide CPI training. Employees gain confidence to address escalating behavior early before it becomes dangerous.
Reduced Staff Turnover
Empowering staff with behavior management skills ramps up morale and job satisfaction, driving down turnover rates significantly in the months following CPI training programs.
Less Use of Restraint
While CPI teaches physical restraint methods, the focus is heavy on non-physical verbal de-escalation strategies which are highly effective when applied correctly. Organizations see sharp drops in restraint use after CPI.
Improved Workplace Culture
By equipping employees at all levels with crisis intervention skills, organizations transform unsupportive cultures into more positive and collaborative ones focused on de-escalation.
Increased Preparedness
Given its efficacy is backed by robust data, crisis prevention certification has become essential for accreditation in many sectors. Organizations report feeling better equipped to pass audits and inspections after systematic CPI training.
Lives Saved
While immeasurable, it’s undeniable that CPI techniques empower staff to resolve violent situations without fatal injuries. For individuals struggling with mental health issues, aggression or impairment, CPI can literally make the difference between life or death.
What Does CPI Training Cover?
CPI’s flagship program, the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® program, employs a holistic training framework aligned to attitudinal, verbal and physical competencies.
Key aspects covered include:
- CPI Attitudinal Principles
- Communication Skills
- Verbal De-escalation
- Risk Assessment & Management
- Team Intervention
- Isolation & Restraint Skills (as an absolute last resort)
- Post-Crisis Support
This comprehensive approach provides staff with the full spectrum of nonviolent crisis intervention tools for the reality of their workplaces.
CPI also offers many specialty programs beyond its core training such as Train-the-Trainer and Instructor Certification programs plus tailored solutions for healthcare workers, human services fields, community services, K-12 schools and universities.
Why Crisis Prevention Intervention Stands Out From Other Options
What sets CPI apart as the global leader in behavior management training?
Evidence-Based Content
All techniques align to the CPI Crisis Development ModelSM based on over 38 years’ experience managing crises. Content undergoes constant review to ensure it integrates latest evidence and regulations.
Flexible Delivery Formats
From in-person workshops to online courses to blended approaches, CPI training solutions integrate perfectly into existing development programs.
Specialized Course Offerings
Role-specific programs are available for nurses, case managers, group home staff, special education teachers, hospital security officers and other functions.
Customizable Content
CPI collaborates closely with organizational leaders to assess needs and customize training materials while preserving program integrity.
Gold-Standard Instructors
With over 15,000 globally, CPI Certified Instructors undergo rigorous training and oversight to facilitate life-changing courses.
Blended Learning Options
Learners can complete pre-work online before honing physical skills with instructors during in-person simulation.
Evidence of Efficacy
Far beyond just anecdotes, CPI points to tangible data across decades proving lasting benefits for staff, culture and workplace safety.
How Can Organizations Get Started With CPI Training?
CPI makes launching crisis prevention intervention training seamless. Steps typically include:
Schedule Consultation
Set time to discuss program options that align to your sector, learners and priorities around policy, reporting, care and ethics.
Conduct Needs Assessment
Dig into details like training history, program goals, problem behaviors, learner profiles, training capacity and metrics to shape the curriculum.
Finalize Training Blueprint
Select delivery format (online, in-person workshops, or blended training), required equipment, schedule, customizations etc.
Launch Training
Run pilot programs, provide learner prep materials, host sessions via CPI Certified Instructors and align leadership.
Track Outcomes
Collect data around incidents, confidence levels, restraint usage, workplace culture and other metrics to showcase ROI.
While CPI training represents a significant investment, the dividends paid in reduced injuries, turnover, worker’s compensation claims and settlements generate a sizable return.
And that rubber truly meets the road when it comes to saving careers, reputations, and most importantly, lives.
Equipping staff with crisis intervention know-how is no longer optional for high-risk sectors — it’s an ethical imperative.
The Life-Saving Skill Every School, Hospital, and Workplace Needs: Crisis Prevention Intervention Training
Ticking Time Bombs: Why Crisis Situations Are Inevitable
It’s an average morning at a bustling acute care hospital. Tensions are already seething by the time a med-surg nurse rushes into a patient’s room responding to screaming. She finds the elderly patient trying to climb out of his bed intent on leaving, violently swinging his IV pole. Attempts to redirect him safely escalate his aggression. Within moments, the scene has exploded into a dangerous crisis with staff struggling to control the volatile patient without getting injured themselves.
This hospital scenario or countless versions of it play out every single day across healthcare facilities, schools, human services agencies and beyond. While crisis situations seem utterly unavoidable nowadays, they absolutely don’t need to culminate in harm or tragedy if staff have the proper crisis intervention training.
Let’s explore why chaotic, aggressive and even violent behavior has become so prevalent across these sectors, what devastating effects unchecked crises bring, and why organizations are investing in crisis prevention training en masse to empower their teams.
Key Factors Fueling Modern Crisis Situations Staffing Shortages
Across healthcare, education, social services and security, staff-to-client ratios have plummeted. Nurses handle 10+ complex cases during marathon shifts. Teachers manage 40+ students crammed into bulging classrooms. Social workers carry overwhelming caseloads across multiple sites. There are too few eyes, ears and hands available to address issues before they spiral into full-fledged crises.
Trauma & Adverse Experiences
Whether coping with traumatic life events or suffering the aftereffects of long-term abuse, neglect or socioeconomic disadvantages, countless children and adults exhibit aggressive tendencies tied to past trauma. Staff require a trauma-informed lens and advanced skills to respond appropriately.
Accessibility & Inclusion
The push toward integrating students with severe learning and behavioral disabilities into mainstream classrooms has introduced tinderboxes for violent outbursts without equipping teachers adequately. Similar dynamics are occurring across healthcare and social services striving for accessibility gains.
Mental Health Issues
From rising rates of childhood disorders like ADHD, oppositional defiance and autism spectrum to debilitating adult conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD, society is facing a mental health crisis. With limited community resources, the brunt of supporting those struggling with psychiatric illnesses falls to educators, case managers and frontline staff in hospitals — most untrained for such a role.
Communication Breakdowns
Treating patients from an vast spectrum of diverse backgrounds, languages, cultures, disabilities, sexual orientations and faiths amplifies opportunities for misunderstandings and frustration to escalate without strong communication infrastructure and conflict management abilities.
Why Consequences of Unmanaged Crisis Situations Are Severe Staff Injuries & Fatalities
The stats are alarming. Healthcare workers face on-the-job assault rates 16X higher than private sector averages. Teachers attempting to break up school fights end up in the emergency room daily — with some incidents turning deadly. Human services staff risk both physical attacks and vicarious trauma supporting distressed clients.
Caregiver Burnout & Turnover
Constant stressful, chaotic work environments punctuated by crisis situations fuels sky-high caregiver and educator burnout rates up to 75% in some fields! Organizations face crippling turnover expenses topping $15,000 per nurse as demoralized staff quit.
Disorderly Workplaces
As frontline staff continuously leave due to low morale, ongoing chaos or traumatic incidents, remaining team members work perpetually shorthanded and beyond capacity…a recipe for disorderly, unstable work cultures. Staff may resort to makeshift restraints or seclusion measures which only breeds more danger.
Property Damage
In uncontained meltdowns, aggressive individuals may shatter windows, destroy furniture, punch holes in walls, smash medical equipment and wreck facilities — causing thousands in damages and liability claims.
Litigation & Fines
Crisis situations marked by inappropriate restraint usage, excessive force or lack of age-appropriate intervention tactics can culminate in devastating lawsuits, settlements and regulatory fines in the hundreds of thousands for organizations.
Reputation Damage Negative media coverage spotlighting violent incidents can seriously compromise community perceptions of schools, social service groups and healthcare networks. Brand reputation and public trust plummet.
Loss of Life While worst case scenarios, they happen daily. Educators sustain fatal injuries breaking up altercations. Patients die under unnecessary sedation or improper restraint. Group home residents fall victim to assaults and neglect within poorly managed environments. Even staff can become victims of workplace violence.
Why Organizations Must Invest in Crisis Prevention Intervention Training
Given these extensive ripple effects, crisis prevention intervention (CPI) training has rapidly become ubiquitous in most schools, healthcare settings, human service organizations and related fields. Let’s explore what exactly CPI training entails and why no high-risk workplace can afford to operate without it.
What Exactly Is Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Training?
CPI refers to a global behavior management training program equipping staff with strategies for safely defusing verbal and physical aggression along a spectrum from anxiety to intense crisis.
Specifically, CPI training revolves around a Crisis Development Model identifying levels of escalating behavior and aligned intervention approaches:
Anxiety → Defensive → Acting-Out → Tension Reduction
Key components of CPI training programs include:
- Attitudinal Principles — Foster dignity, respect and care
- Verbal De-Escalation Techniques — Defuse anger and volatility
- Risk Assessment & Management — Ensure safety of all parties
- Team Intervention Strategies — Present united front
- Isolation & Restraint Skills — Emergency containment only
Who Needs CPI Training & Why? While crisis situations can erupt anywhere, CPI training has become ubiquitous for staff in high-risk sectors like:
Schools — Teachers manage students with learning disabilities, trauma histories, mental health issues and adverse home environments daily — a recipe for classroom crises and violent outbursts. Yet most lack training in safe restraint methods, de-escalation tactics and trauma support.
Hospitals & Healthcare Centers — Between volatile patients, endless stress, broken communication and unmet expectations, over 75% of clinical and support staff experience workplace violence ranging from verbal abuse to bodily attacks. Yet standards for violence prevention training still fall severely short despite dozens of nurses, healthcare workers and hospital security officers ending up in the ER — or morgue — annually.
Human & Social Services –Staff in shelters, group homes, case management, addiction counseling, developmental disability services and similar support roles work directly with society’s most vulnerable populations facing severely challenging life circumstances. They require adequate behavior management skills and self-protection abilities when clients experience crises related to trauma, psychiatric issues or aggression.
First Responders — Whether responding to domestic disputes or drug-fueled emergencies, frontline officers need the tools to contain chaotic crisis situations without causing further harm or damage. Beyond enforcement, their role as public servants calls for compassion and care — especially when working with disadvantaged groups.
The Benefits of Equipping Staff with Crisis Prevention Intervention Skills
While crisis prevention intervention training requires sizable investment of both time and resources, ample data shows implementing programs like CPI yields immense dividends for workplace culture, staff wellbeing, and organizational outcomes by:
- Reducing Injuries Among Staff & Clients by 50–100%
- Minimizing Restraint & Sedation Use by 60–100%
- Driving Down Staff Turnover 25–75%
- Cutting Workers Comp Claims & Lawsuits
- Improving Staff Knowledge, Confidence & Morale
- Fostering Supportive Work Environments & Communication
- Ensuring Licensing & Accreditation Compliance
- Enhancing Community Trust & Public Image
- Ultimately Saving Lives!
CPI: The Global Leader in Crisis Prevention Intervention Solutions
Founded in 1980, the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) pioneered the first conflict de-escalation and crisis intervention training specifically designed for professional staff in healthcare, education, corrections and human services fields.
After expanding globally with training delivered across 100 countries, CPI has cemented its reputation as the worldwide leader providing research-validated behavior management solutions built to handle the dangerous realities of high-risk workplaces.
What Sets CPI’s Training Programs Apart?
Evidence-Based Content & Validated Methods
- All techniques align to the CPI Crisis Development ModelSM based on proven methodology
Specialized Curricula Tailored Across Fields
- Custom solutions designed specifically for teachers, nurses, case managers and officers
Blended In-Person, Online & Hybrid Course Options
- Learning delivered on every platform to fit organizational needs
1500+ Certified Instructors Across Industries
- Local facilitators with specialized sector experience
Collaborative Customization Process
- Content adapted to address organization’s unique policies, population needs and protocols
Post-Training Data Tracking & Analysis
- Incident rates pre- and post-training compared to showcase ROI
Thirty+ Years of Case Examples Validating Effectiveness
- Far beyond just theories, the approach boasts extensive real-world proof
CPI Training Sets the Global Standard for Equipping Staff to Handle Crises
Considering rising patient-to-staff ratios, classroom sizes, caseloads and call volumes across today’s high-demand fields, crisis situations are growing unavoidable. Workplace violence and caregiver burnout have reached epidemic levels with injuries, assaults and emotional trauma becoming everyday realities.
Yet with proper training in areas like verbal de-escalation, risk assessment, warning signs identification and safe restraint protocols, the vast majority of crises can be diverted.
Packed with evidence-based techniques, flexible delivery options and customizations, CPI equips staff with the necessary skills to handle tense situations appropriately and prevent violence before it starts — all while treating individuals with compassion and dignity.
That’s why over 10,000 organizations globally spanning healthcare, education, community services and beyond now mandate Crisis Prevention Institute’s training programs for their frontline staff and managers.
Investing in this life-saving skillset pays untold dividends in reduced injuries, legal claims, turnover, burnout and most critically, lives lost due to lack of proper training.
