Press release:
Mission Health Security leadership will host a training event this week on an innovative interactive de-escalation program called Verbal Defense & Influence™, or VDI. The four-day-long training module was developed by Vistelar, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based global consulting and training institute that provides cutting edge solutions for conflict management and prevention, as well as strategic trainings to a broad range of industries, including healthcare institutions. Though select Mission Health Security leaders will be certified as VDI instructors for Mission Health, attendees will also include public safety professionals from across western North Carolina. The training will be held at Mission Health’s 400 Ridgefield Court facility in Asheville from Tuesday, March 28th through Friday, March 31st.
The Non-escalation, De-Escalation and Crisis Intervention Professionals (VDI) course certifies students as instructors for Vistelar’s Conflict Management for Contact Professionals training program. It emphasizes the use of practical strategies that Security personnel and others can use to prevent conflict (non-escalation) as well as de-escalation and crisis intervention approaches. These skills are effective and vastly superior alternatives to the use of physical force or weapons, and are employed at the “point of impact” – the brief period between when a disagreement or angry words can escalate rapidly to the point of verbal abuse or physical violence. VDI students receive opportunities to practice conflict prevention and management techniques and examine actual footage of “real world” conflicts.
Demand for the evidence-based program is high; VDI has been taught for over 30 years by trainers who have extensive law enforcement experience. Measurable outcomes include lower rates of customer complaints, fewer injuries, and improved staff performance and morale.
Mission Health has committed to integrating this philosophy of conflict management as yet another tool to increase safety for Mission Health’s patients, visitors, and staff, and strengthen overall hospital security.
Many thanks to Vistelar and their professional VDI Trainers for conducting this training event. It was an exceptional training experience.
Many thanks to Vistelar and their professional VDI Trainers, Dave Young and Mike Delvaux, for conducting this excellent VDI Instructor’s class. Agencies and organizations will be safer with the huge body of knowledge and well-developed toolsets that all these instructors bring back with them.