Research safety and emergency exit strategies
Keep this guide handy during research sessions in the event that you find yourself in a session with a Veteran who is experiencing a medical or psychological emergency.
Requesting emergency assistance
As researchers, our number one priority is to keep our participants safe. When working with Veterans, it is particularly important to be aware of our participants' psychological and physical well-being during our research sessions. If you find yourself in a session with a Veteran who is experiencing a medical or psychological emergency, follow this protocol to initiate assistance.
Stop research activity in order to attend to the participant.
Contact the recruiting team (Perigean) over Slack immediately. Please use the direct message set up at the start of the study so that everyone is notified.
Include a detailed description of the scenario
e.g the participant stopped responding and became listless during the interview
e.g. the participant vocalized intent to harm themselves/others
Perigean will be responsible for calling 911 or the Veteran Crisis Line as appropriate
Researcher should only make the emergency call if Perigean is not available
Be available to answer questions.
Follow Perigean's guidance carefully.
A member of the recruiting team may join the meeting to identify appropriate next steps.
They may escalate to the Veteran Crisis Line or to 911 as needed.
They may give you specific instructions about how to keep the participant engaged or how to hand off controls of the session so that they can stay with the participant until emergency support is available.
When emergency is stabilized
Update the Slack channel with any relevant basic details
Loop in your government project point of contact (usually your OCTO lead)
Take care of your mental and emotional health
Witnessing an emergency can be a traumatizing experience.
Take time to pause and assess your own energy, emotional comfort, and capacity
Let your team know if you need any support.
Consider a debrief with your team and/or the observers on the call as on opportunity to acknowledge this experience and consider how we can better support researchers and participants moving forward.
Creating a safe space for participants
Although we may not intend it, research sessions inherently create a power dynamic where the moderator is in control: participants don't know what questions will be asked, what tasks will be given, and the moderator represents the VA. Before you start your research study, consider ways to create a psychologically safe space that shifts the power dynamic in favor of the participant.
Get an accessibility review from our VSP Accessibility team (#accessibility-help on Slack)
Expert advice on effective and ethical research design for disabilities and assistive technology
Ensure research methods and conversation guide are appropriate for our participant population
Help prepare you to be creative in order to accommodate disabilities and assistive technology
Limit number of observers
Limit VA attendance to 5-6, including moderator and note taker
Notetaker and moderator should be considered minimum VA attendance for most sessions.
Empowered participants can be more comfortable, and more comfortable participants tend to be better participants
Should keep observers in the waiting room until asking the participant if they are comfortable with observers. Prepare your observers for this.
If participant consents, use “admit all” button in Zoom
If a more private session is requested, notify observers to drop via Slack
Prepare your observers to give a short, camera-on introduction as this can increase participant comfort level.
Each observer should say a “hello,” their first name, and their position on VA.gov
When complete, ask observers to mute and turn camera off to save bandwidth
Be mindful of participant's behavior
If they appear to be distressed, take a moment to check in with them
Offer to bypass a question
Suggest taking a short break
If they continue to give signs of distress, offer an opportunity to gracefully exit the session.
Use a sample exit strategy
Thank them profusely for their time and feedback
Prioritize the participant over the research. Be prepared to pivot from your conversation guide and approach in order to meet your participant where they are.
Offer participants a graceful exit
Include in your conversation guide intro the ability for the participant to pause or stop the session
For example: "If for any reason and at any time you want to stop the session, please let me know. You will not lose your stipend or be penalized in any way if we need to stop."
During the session, offer participants who appear to be in or are in distress an opportunity to gracefully exit the session.
Include an emergency exit section at the end of your conversation guide so you remember to
Thank them profusely for their feedback or for making the time to talk to you.
Include one or more options from the sample exit strategies that you could use if needed
Creating a safe space for research moderators
It’s important that researchers feel safe and secure while conducting research. Prepare your own exit strategies in advance with your team. Should an incident occur during the research session making the moderator no longer feels safe or capable to continue, follow the protocol below.
Pause your research activity.
You could say “I need to take a few minutes to set up the next task” or “I need a short break, please give me a couple of minutes”
Contact the recruiting team (Perigean) using the Slack direct message set up at the start of the study
Describe the scenario in as much detail as you are comfortable
As you are able, be available to answer questions.
If it’s best for you to end your participation in the session and you’ve set it ahead of time, hand off session to a backup moderator.
e.g “for this next part, [researcher] will take over”
If it’s best to end the session, gracefully close the session with one of your practiced exit strategies.
Let the participant know that the recruiting team will follow up with them.
Inform the recruiting team that the session has been ended.
When the session has ended
Take care of your mental and emotional health
Being made to feel unsafe or uncomfortable during research can be a traumatizing experience
Take time to pause and assess your own energy, emotional comfort, and capacity
Let your team know if you need any support.
Consider a debrief with your team and/or the observers on the call as on opportunity to acknowledge this experience and consider how we can better support researchers and participants moving forward.
Sample exit strategies
We recommend you plan a graceful exit strategy that you will feel comfortable using during a session. Your goal is to simply wrap up the session without any further incident or escalation. It is important not to blame the participant, since it could increase any distress or trauma they are experiencing. If you are exiting for a reason on your side, it’s best not to share any personal details, as it may create additional stress for all. Examples of exit strategies that have worked include:
Out of questions: We have covered all the questions I have for you today. Thank you so much for your time and feedback.
Blame technology: I am so sorry, but I just learned that the [website/prototype/thing I wanted to test with you today] is unexpectedly not working. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your time.
Backup Moderator: This is best to practice beforehand, but can work if there is an emergency with the moderator. Appoint another team member who will be on the call as the backup moderator. You can say “for the next part of this session [backup moderator name] will moderate.” They should be prepared to jump in if something happens to you or you are not comfortable to finish the session.
If you have any questions, please reach out to:
Shane Strassberg (@Shane Strassberg on Slack)
Help and feedback
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