Which NFPA term describes incidents that have the potential to cause critical incident stress?

• A. Atypical stressful event
• B. Catastrophic incident
• C. Routine incident
• D. High-risk event

Answer: (A)

NFPA uses the term “atypical stressful event” to describe incidents that stand out from normal calls because they carry a greater potential to cause critical incident stress for responders. These events are unusual, unpredictable, or emotionally intense—things like scenes with multiple fatalities, extreme violence, or victims who are particularly vulnerable or disturbing. Because they depart from routine experiences, they can overwhelm typical coping mechanisms, making post-incident support or critical incident stress management important.

The other terms focus more on either scale or danger rather than the psychological impact. A catastrophic incident denotes large-scale events, which may be severe but don’t inherently identify the stress potential; routine incidents are ordinary and expected, unlikely to trigger CIS management; high-risk events describe danger level, not the likelihood of critical incident stress.