Behavioral Emergency Safety & Support Team
B.E.S.S.T.

(Talk-down team training)

B.E.S.S.T. Training Philosophy

The mission of the B.E.S.S.T. Team is to help talk down seriously distressed service users. The B.E.S.S.T. Team will respond to each request for assistance from unit staff members who face a possible restraint situation and to assist them in the talk-down sequence.

This team is an effective tool to further reduce the number of events that result in physical intervention.

By responding early (because unit staff will be encouraged to summon assistance early), the B.E.S.S.T. Team will make a big difference in a unit’s ability to calm a situation quickly and effectively and avoid more hands-on events. The responding B.E.S.S.T. Team will support the unit staff--not replace the unit staff.

The advanced B.E.S.S.T. Team training is split 60/40: the largest part is spent on delaying strategies, with a lesser, but still strong emphasis on physical training. This reflects our philosophy that we will focus on avoiding the hold whenever safely possible, and we will hold the person only if that is needed to keep people safe.

Unlike previous versions of restraint team approaches, whose mission was to safely restrain (which could easily be perceived as the “goon squad”), the B.E.S.S.T. Team’s mission is to arrive early, defuse the event, prevent the restraint, and only restrain when that is the safest option. This reflects the philosophy that the earlier we respond to the distressed situation the better the quality of care we provide and the less likely we will be to restrain someone.

Note: We do not view restraining someone as a last resort measure; instead, we only restrain when restraining is safer – for EVERYONE- then not restraining. Our experience is this:
If everyone feels that restraint is the last resort, then if the situation goes badly - the team adjusts by going harder and faster (more of the last resort).

But, if we train people to think of restraining as just one element of many things we do, staff can adjust by stopping a bad restraint and doing something else. Good training must include this element of training that focuses on alternative responses for times when the existing plan is not working.

B.E.S.S.T. Training is a customized course, designed specifically for your organization. We would be glad to create a plan and a quote for your exact needs.