RESUS

Restorative Emotional Support for Urgent Settings
Supporting Healthcare Heroes

What Is RESUS?

RESUS is SPARK’s initiative dedicated to supporting the emotional and spiritual well-being of healthcare and emergency medical professionals across East Texas.

Doctors, nurses, ER staff, and frontline medical workers face intense emotional stress — especially after patient suicides, overdose deaths, or other traumatic events. These experiences often leave providers carrying unseen burdens, and many receive little structured support.

RESUS was created to fill this gap — helping healthcare heroes process difficult experiences, build resilience, and remain strong in their life-saving work.

Why It Matters

In high-stress medical settings:

  • Burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury are rising sharply.

  • Medical professionals face elevated risks of depression, PTSD, and suicide.

  • The emotional aftermath of suicide and overdose deaths often goes unaddressed.

  • Many healthcare workers quietly leave the field or struggle in silence.

RESUS helps prevent this by providing safe, compassionate support when it is needed most.

What We Do

Trauma-Informed Debriefing
After a suicide, overdose, or traumatic loss, RESUS offers voluntary debriefing sessions to help staff process their experiences in a supportive space.

Peer Support Development
RESUS helps hospitals and urgent care centers develop trained peer support teams to foster a culture of mutual care among staff.

Faith-Informed Resilience Building
For those who welcome it, RESUS provides faith-informed tools and training to support spiritual resilience and healing after loss.

Staff Training
RESUS offers training on:

  • Understanding the emotional impact of traumatic loss

  • Recognizing signs of compassion fatigue and burnout

  • Building supportive teams and workplace cultures

  • Navigating grief and moral distress as healthcare providers

Partnerships
RESUS works alongside:
✅ Hospitals
✅ Emergency Departments
✅ Medical offices
✅ Faith-based hospital chaplains
✅ Behavioral health teams
✅ Community partners

Our Vision

Through RESUS, SPARK is helping to create a healthcare culture in East Texas where:

  • Every provider feels valued and supported.

  • No one faces the aftermath of trauma alone.

  • Spiritual care and emotional well-being are seen as essential parts of healthcare.

Caring for those who care for others is not optional — it is vital to saving lives and sustaining hope.

Get Involved

You can help bring RESUS to more healthcare settings across East Texas:
✅ Invite RESUS to partner with your hospital or medical center
✅ Host a RESUS training for your staff or chaplain team
✅ Volunteer to serve on the RESUS team
✅ Support SPARK’s efforts to expand emotional and spiritual care across urgent settings

👉 Join RESUS. Together, we can support the healthcare heroes who serve our communities every day.

RESUS FAQ

Restorative Emotional Support for Urgent Settings
Supporting Healthcare Heroes

What is RESUS?

RESUS is SPARK’s initiative to provide emotional and spiritual support to healthcare professionals, particularly after patient suicides, overdose deaths, and other traumatic losses.

RESUS helps hospital staff, emergency responders, and medical professionals process difficult experiences, build resilience, and maintain their emotional well-being in high-stress environments.

Who does RESUS serve?

RESUS serves healthcare professionals and staff across East Texas, including:

  • Emergency Department (ED/ER) staff

  • Physicians and nurses

  • Behavioral health staff

  • Respiratory therapists

  • Social workers

  • Chaplains

  • EMS / first responders

  • Administrative and support staff impacted by traumatic loss

What types of support does RESUS offer?

RESUS provides:
✅ Voluntary debriefing sessions after suicide, overdose, or traumatic loss
✅ Faith-informed resilience training for healthcare staff and chaplains
✅ Peer support development to help hospitals build sustainable internal support teams
✅ Resource connection for long-term emotional and spiritual care
✅ Training on compassion fatigue, moral injury, and self-care

Is participation in RESUS services confidential?

Yes. All RESUS debriefings and individual support are voluntary and confidential.
Our goal is to provide a safe space where healthcare workers can process experiences without fear of judgment or professional consequences.

Does RESUS provide clinical counseling?

RESUS is not a clinical therapy program. We provide trauma-informed debriefing, peer support, and resilience-building resources.
If a participant needs clinical counseling or specialized support, RESUS helps connect them to trusted community partners and behavioral health services.

Is RESUS a faith-based program?

RESUS is a program of SPARK, which collaborates closely with faith partners and chaplain teams.

RESUS provides:

  • Faith-informed support when welcomed by participants

  • Secular support when preferred — all staff are served with respect for their beliefs and backgrounds

RESUS is designed to serve all healthcare workers, regardless of religious affiliation or belief.

How is RESUS different from an EAP or critical incident stress debriefing?

While Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and CISD teams are valuable, RESUS adds a unique layer of support:

  • Targeted focus on suicide, overdose, and traumatic loss

  • Faith-integrated resilience training, where welcomed

  • Peer support development tailored to each hospital’s culture

  • Ongoing partnerships with hospital leadership and chaplain teams — not just one-time interventions

RESUS complements existing resources and helps strengthen the overall culture of care in healthcare settings.

How can my hospital or clinic partner with RESUS?

Hospitals and clinics can partner with RESUS by:
✅ Inviting us to provide staff training
✅ Hosting RESUS debriefings after critical incidents
✅ Working with us to build peer support teams
✅ Integrating RESUS into ongoing staff wellness efforts

To learn more or schedule a consultation:
Contact Dennis Steelman at dsteelman@sparkcares.org

Can individuals volunteer with RESUS?

Yes! We welcome volunteers with backgrounds in:

  • Chaplains and clergy

  • Mental health professionals

  • Peer support specialists

  • Healthcare professionals

  • Compassionate community members with appropriate training

All volunteers complete a RESUS training process to ensure they can serve effectively and sensitively in urgent healthcare settings.

How can I learn more?

👉 Visit our RESUS section on the SPARK website.
👉 Contact dsteelman@sparkcares.org to learn more, request a hospital partnership packet, or schedule training.