About Us
KRTS Power to Respond® was developed as events over the past few years changed the way that organisations and society think about traumatic incidents and crises.
In the United States, the number of terror-related active shooter attacks has increased dramatically, with their two most deadly terror attacks since 9/11 occurring within the last two years. The threat of terror is now ranked as one of their top concerns by organisations.
In the US, a mass shooting occurs almost every day. According to 2014 Federal Bureau of Investigation data, 7 out of 10 active shooter incidents occur at schools or businesses.
Natural disasters resulting from extreme weather – wildfires, mudslide, Tsunamis, tornados and hurricanes – too numerous to mention, are an ever-increasing phenomenon.
Between 22nd March and 19th June 2017, the United Kingdom was rocked by 4 separate terror attacks. The official UK threat level, temporarily raised to Critical following the Manchester Arena attack, remains Severe – meaning “an attack is highly likely.”
These latter events, along with the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, created a powerful urge for a change in how organisations and society respond, within two highly experienced trauma professionals. Together, Liz Royle (PhD) and Catherine Kerr (CPsychol) already had over 40 years of clinical experience working with disaster and psychological trauma, but the growing problem meant something had to change.
They were increasingly hearing first hand on a massive, global scale, how those affected where left without appropriate mental health support and how organisations struggled with sickness absence and operational disruption, reduced morale and workplace relations and damage to company reputation. Following traumatic events, people question “how do we deal with this?” “How do we help those affected?” Trauma leaves us feeling helpless and out of control.
As acts of terror become more frequent, companies and communities know they must become better prepared to manage the direct and indirect impact. Organisations are beginning to reflect these threats in crisis management and business continuity plans, but managing the impact requires skills in both managing a crisis event and managing the psychological impact on people. The growing need to develop standards for post-incident support has led to the development of ISO 22330: Guidelines for People Aspects of Business Continuity. This means that whilst organisations will now have consistent guidelines on best practice, they also need an accessible solution to meet the standard.
The possibility of a workforce that is largely unable to recover is a risk that can, and must, be addressed.
The solution
KRTS Power to Respond® is a ground-breaking digital health App that meets the standards set out in ISO 22330 and those of the World Health Organisation, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, European Network for Traumatic Stress and the British Psychological Society amongst others for post-trauma care. It can be integrated into mass digital notification systems and/or be released independently.
KRTS Power to Respond® has multilingual facility for international delivery. The software is purchased on an annual license basis and deployed by the organisation within that year whenever necessary. There will be a sliding scale of fees depending on the number of employees to ensure this technology is in reach of all. KRTS Power to Respond® is suitable for large and small organisations, from micro SMEs to multinational corporations. They can be confident that this can be easily put in place immediately alongside their other incident management processes.
KRTS Power to Respond® is a game changer in how organisations respond to the impact of crises, emergency situations and man-made and natural disasters.
Our Story
As highly experienced trauma and crisis professionals, we developed KRTS Power to Respond® because we are passionate about people getting the right support at the right time following a hugely distressing event.
We wanted to reach as many people as possible in the most effective way.
We also wanted to take away the confusion and fear about the natural response to abnormal situations.
After a crisis or traumatic event:
People need information to regain a sense of some control
They want to help those around them but usually don’t know what to do
People need advice and reassurance as quickly as possible
Effective early intervention should be short, simple and accessible but often isn’t
A private, non-stigmatising source of advice and guidance is needed
Often the wrong kind of support is inadvertently put in place for employees
A lack of appropriately qualified crisis workers means people often don’t receive support
Organisations are often disempowered and confused about how to support their employees
Our Team
Dr Liz Royle
PhD, MA, EMDR Europe Approved Consultant, MBACP (Accred)Dr Liz Royle started her crisis intervention career in 1996 and her experience spans many settings.
As Senior Welfare Officer for Greater Manchester Police up to 2004, Liz was responsible for:
- Writing the force’s Trauma Support Policy and developing procedures for managing major incidents.
- Planning the in-house response to potential threats raised by the city hosting the Commonwealth Games.
- Liaising with cross-party emergency planning groups.
- Taking part in both table top and mock scenario training to test procedures for incidents such as police shootings.
- Developing proactive initiatives for high risk roles including officers working in the Tactical Firearms Unit, casualty bureau, temporary mortuaries and for family liaison officers.
- Leading a team providing 24 / 7 emergency cover and an immediate response following numerous line of duty police officer deaths, murders, suicides, hostage situations, multiple fatality accidents, public order and firearms incidents.
She founded the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies’ task force on “Managing Psychological Trauma in the Uniformed Services” and led this for 8 years.
Working independently, she has used her crisis intervention skills in different settings:
- Writing Trauma Support Policies and Standard Operating Procedures for local authorities and emergency services.
- Taking part in simulations and table top exercises across a range of settings and acting as an expert observer for Crisis Management Teams’ development.
- Responding to community disaster and crises in schools, local authorities and a range of private organisations and voluntary agencies. Liz has worked with affected organisations following large scale natural disasters and acts of terror.
- Training in-house crisis response teams.
Liz specialises in crisis intervention and the treatment of complex PTSD and is a founder member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society. She is an approved trainer for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and was a member of Chester University’s employer advisory panel for their MSc in Psychological Trauma as well as being a visiting lecturer on that course. As an experienced trauma psychotherapist and EMDR Europe Approved Consultant, Liz has worked clinically with clients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and trauma. reactions including those following multiple fatalities, serious assaults, accidents, child sexual abuse and major incidents. She is an international speaker and published author with 3 books, 2 book chapters and many journal articles to her credit and completed her PhD at the University of Manchester researching how the identity of police officers with a military background affects their care-seeking behaviour for PTSD.
Chartered Psychologist Cath Kerr has 20 years’ experience of working with high risk organisations and clients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and acute trauma reactions including those following serious assaults, hostage situations, road traffic collisions, firearms incidents, witnessing violence and death and historical child sexual abuse.
Throughout that time, Cath has seen many individuals in the early days following such incidents. She has witnessed the positive impact of people being provided with education and strategies. This has helped to give them a sense of control in what can be, a very confusing and distressing time. She has also been involved with local NHS Primary Care Groups to help provide early preventative measures in response to mental health issues.
As well as being an international author and presenter, alongside KRTS Power to Respond® she is the co-creator of KRTS Power to Plan™ a comprehensive psychological risk assessment tool, and KRTS Power to Recover®, an early intervention programme that supports individuals following a critical incident. She also delivers training courses as part of a portfolio of support for organisations that need to manage workplace trauma.
Cath is a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Counselling Psychology Qualification Reference Group. She is also a member of the BPS Crisis, Disaster and Trauma Section which enables her to keep informed of the latest developments in the field.
Ultimately her passion is to help make a difference when it really counts.
Cath Kerr (CPsychol)
MSc, MBACP (Snr. Accred), EMDR Europe Approved Consultant
Cath Kerr (CPsychol)
MSc, MBACP (Snr. Accred), EMDR Europe Approved ConsultantChartered Psychologist Cath Kerr has 20 years’ experience of working with high risk organisations and clients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and acute trauma reactions including those following serious assaults, hostage situations, road traffic collisions, firearms incidents, witnessing violence and death and historical child sexual abuse.
Throughout that time, Cath has seen many individuals in the early days following such incidents. She has witnessed the positive impact of people being provided with education and strategies. This has helped to give them a sense of control in what can be, a very confusing and distressing time. She has also been involved with local NHS Primary Care Groups to help provide early preventative measures in response to mental health issues.
As well as being an international author and presenter, alongside KRTS Power to Respond® she is the co-creator of KRTS Power to Plan™ a comprehensive psychological risk assessment tool, and KRTS Power to Recover®, an early intervention programme that supports individuals following a critical incident. She also delivers training courses as part of a portfolio of support for organisations that need to manage workplace trauma.
Cath is a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Counselling Psychology Qualification Reference Group. She is also a member of the BPS Crisis, Disaster and Trauma Section which enables her to keep informed of the latest developments in the field.
Ultimately her passion is to help make a difference when it really counts.
Vess Christoph
Award winning serial multinational entrepreneur, a post graduate of Information Technologies (BScIT), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a former CCNA certificate holderVess’ first Translation business which he is still active as shareholder and Director has grown to 4 countries with 4 offices and 5 franchises, satisfying more than 10000 clients around the world. His second Digital Marketing business has received 12 business award nominations and won 2 awards from the largest business organization in the UK the Federation of Small Businesses. The UK digital marketing company services clients in Manchester, Liverpool, London and internationally in the U.S. and Germany.
Vess’ skills include: international business development and management; Creating pricing, business and marketing strategies; Full technical project management from the design to implication and deployment of web-based systems, IOS/Android apps and software.
Complete online strategy development; High conversion rate UX/UI design wireframing; Competitive analysis and gap analysis expert; HR expertise of attracting and retaining a talented team.
Awards and Certifications
Awards
Awards
Who we work with
Reference Books
POWER TO RECOVER: A Complete Guide to Managing Psychological Trauma at Work
By Liz Royle and Catherine Kerr
Also available as an ebook
INTEGRATING EMDR INTO YOUR PRACTICE
By Liz Royle and Catherine Kerr
Translated into Swedish (2012) and Spanish (2019)
Chapter 16 “PEOPLE LIKE ME DON’T GET MENTALLY ILL: Social Identity Theory, EMDR and the Uniformed Services”
By Liz Royle
“POLICE FIREARMS OFFICERS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA: THEIR PERCEPTION OF TRAUMA SUPPORT SERVICES”
By Liz Royle
Part V: Theory and Approached 5.13 “Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)”
By Catherine Kerr and Liz Royle
“THE PSYCHOLOGY OF YOYO DIETING: 7 STEPS TO BREAKING FREE”
By Cath Kerr and Liz Royle
Also available as an ebook
Guidance compliance
The app meets the standards set out in the forthcoming ISO 22330 and those of the World Health Organisation, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, European Network for Traumatic Stress and the British Psychological Society amongst others for post-trauma care.