Other Disaster Behavioral Health Response Resources
The resources below include a few of the many excellent websites outside the Department’s control which support providers of disaster behavioral health services. This list is not intended to be exhaustive and inclusion or exclusion on this list is not intended as an evaluation of a particular resource.
Psychological First Aid
Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting people in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism to reduce initial distress, and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning. It is for use by first responders, incident command systems, primary and emergency health care providers, school crisis response teams, faith-based organizations, disaster relief organizations, Community Emergency Response Teams, Medical Reserve Corps, and the Citizens Corps in diverse settings.
A number of excellent PFA trainings are available through many leading academic and response organizations. The link below is to one such resource, PFA Online. PFA Online is a free 6-hour web-based curriculum developed and implemented by the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Terrorism and Disaster Program, directed by Melissa Brymer, PhD, Psy.D. PFA Online was made possible through funding from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD), AND the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
Mental Health First Aid
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare provides training in Mental Health First Aid, a public education program that helps the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.It is offered in the form of an interactive 12-hour course that presents an overview of mental illness and substance use disorders in the U.S. and introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their impact, and overviews common treatments. The resource below provides an overview of Mental Health First Aid, news and updates, and information on becoming an instructor and finding a course near you.