How About a Nice Hawaiian Punch?
Thoughts about Crisis Intervention Certification and what it takes to learn it. I love these old slogans! You all remember the kids drink, Hawaiian Punch, right? The commercial involved a cartoon character that was a pitcher of Hawaiian Punch flavored drink. He’d come out and ask his counterpart, “How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?” The second guy would see the pitcher, and naturally say, “Sure!” That’s when the character would punch the guy in the face. I’m not sure how much of the drink the commercial sold, but kids (including me) thought the commercial was funny, and giving Hawaiian punches became fairly popular.
Physical violence is never funny, and that’s especially true during crisis. The majority of people don’t wake up every day thinking, “Hey, I want to get in a fight, today!” If you’re training for a UFC match, maybe that is your goal, but most of us in society frown upon physical violence. Obviously, in crisis intervention there is a time when you have no choice but to go hands-on. However, most of the time you don’t.
The time to resort to physical intervention is clearly defined around the country. When another person creates an imminent danger to themselves or others, you must respond in a way that will immediately stop and prevent harm from occurring. There are times when physical intervention is the only option. What’s key to remember is that, whatever physical intervention method you are going to use, you must use it appropriately and effectively.
We don’t add in our own little knee strike in the middle of the intervention. We don’t add our own little elbow smash as we’re going in for the hold. We make sure that we don’t add in our own little head butt to the scenario, and we don’t tweak somebody’s arm just because we can. It’s all about integrity.
It’s recognizing that you have a job to do in the situation and you need to keep the person safe, because they’re in crisis. They’re in a crisis situation and they need help. Your duty is to behave like a professional and use only the amount of force that is necessary, legal, and authorized. Unless you are fighting the UFC, use of a Hawaiian Punch has no place in physical intervention.
