In 2003, I became a member of Tucson’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). This program trains ordinary citizens in emergency preparedness and basic disaster response skills like fire suppression, first aid, triage, and incident command.

CERT members are expected to participate in continuing education programs, and that’s why I recently went to school with a bunch of paramedics, firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, SWAT team members, and chaplains. For four days, we studied the various tools and techniques used in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

Now, you may be asking, what is a Critical Incident? And how would a creative professional happen to become involved in such a thing?

I’ll admit that going to a class full of first responders isn’t standard stuff in my freelancing life. After all, most of my design clients come from academia.

But I’m a big believer in something that one of my clients espouses. She’s a microbiology researcher, and she has noticed that many of her scientist colleagues have a very narrow range of interests. Not good for them – or for their creativity.

My client devised a campaign to counteract this narrowing of the scientific mind. Her “No Desk Potatoes” campaign’s goal is to encourage scientists to learn something new – even if it’s wa-a-a-ay outside their field.

That’s why my latest Something New is called CISM. And let me get back to that Critical Incident definition question, which has been waiting patiently through the last four paragraphs. Simply put, a Critical Incident is a sudden, traumatic event. Could be a fire, tornado, hurricane, terrorist attack, or a violent crime.

The emotional after-effects of such events can last for years. Happened to a lady I know. She’s a creative professional like we are.

On a sunny cloudless morning, she and her dog were minding their own business in lower Manhattan. Then a couple of airplanes flew into the World Trade Center towers.

In the weeks, months, and years that followed, she dealt with homelessness, mercury poisoning, pneumonia, and treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nowadays, she says she’s okay – most of the time.

In short, a Critical Incident can happen to any of us. And, be forewarned, you’re not going to be yourself. Critical Incident Stress is like that – one minute, you’re fine, the next minute, you think you’re going crazy. You’re just reacting as any normal human being would when faced with an unnatural event. Or, as Tom, our instructor said, “Welcome to the human race.”

To me, the tools and techniques for dealing with Critical Incident Stress seemed like a no-brainer. I mean, if you had a major disaster, wouldn’t it be a good idea to tell people going in to do cleanup work that they’re going to see some horrible things?

Or that when they’re done with their shift, that it might be helpful to tell them how to cope with what they’ve seen? Or that if they find themselves in a news photographer’s viewfinder, that the resulting international publicity might create its own stress, for which they might need additional support?

Unfortunately, those tools and techniques aren’t a no-brainer. And their absence has caused some very dedicated people to suffer for a long time after the event. Some have even committed suicide.

Although many of the people in my class were preparing to lead Critical Incident Stress Management teams in law enforcement, firefighting, hospitals, and the military, there was a sense of camaraderie that transcended job titles and agencies.

It was the very camaraderie that I’ve found to be sorely lacking in business networking events. I found it refreshing to be in a room full of people who weren’t trying to do deals or identify leads to follow up with later.

So, now we’re nearing the end of my tale of Disaster School. And, since this is a business-related blog, here are five lessons that you can apply to your freelancing:

1.  Take a hint from my microbiologist client. Don’t be a Desk Potato. Learn something new, even if it’s wa-a-a-ay outside your field. You never know where your next client is coming from.

2. Get off that freelancing slave ship that N.C. Winters recently warned us about. Get out there and cultivate a wide variety of interests. You’ll be a much more interesting person. And sh-h-h! don’t tell anyone, but those people called clients like to deal with interesting people.

Two of my favorite role models are family members. My grandfather was a volunteer fireman, city councilman, tax assessor, and sportswriter who made his living as a Wall Street securities analyst. His only daughter, my Aunt Jean, is a watercolor artist who’s a state police volunteer. She helps to maintain the statewide sex offender database – a sure conversation-starter at any gathering.

3.  Although your life may seem calm and peaceful, Things Can Happen. And you don’t have to be living in lower Manhattan on a day like September 11, 2001. So, even if it isn’t the most joyful thing you do, be prepared. The Ready.gov site is a useful resource.

4. Would you like to do more than just be prepared? There’s a Community Emergency Response Team that would be thrilled to have you. The training’s free, courtesy of the U.S. government. The only obligation you have is to be of assistance if something big and bad happens.

Or maybe you’ve driven past your town’s volunteer fire department for years. Ever noticed that “Volunteers Wanted?” sign out front? They put it there for you. Really.

Ever heard of Jane Stern, the acclaimed food writer who co-authored the book Roadfood? For years, she suffered from clinical depression. She overcame it by becoming an Emergency Medical Technician. It wasn’t an easy journey – she wrote about her emotional struggles in her book, Ambulance Girl – but she did it.

5. Okay, I dissed business networking events. Again. I did this to make a point, and that is that there is a time and place for seeking business. You don’t want to turn every public outing into a scene from a Gail Machlis “Quality Time” cartoon. Remember the one that depicted a career-oriented woman’s chagrin over having been at a two-hour baby shower, but she didn’t network once? Don’t be like that woman.