FREE COURSE: FAST Foundations (Disaster Behavioral Health First Aid Specialist Training)

Program Aim: The FAST Foundations program is intended to provide training in the foundational knowledge necessary to effectively deliver Psychological First Aid (PFA) to children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of disaster.

Program Goals: 
• Define and describe Psychological First Aid. • List the basic objectives of Psychological First Aid. • Identify guidelines for delivering Psychological First Aid to adults, children, older adults and persons with disabilities. • Identify guidelines for delivering Psychological First Aid to adults, children, older adults and persons with disabilities. • Identify things that the Psychological First Aid provider should know and do when preparing to deliver Psychological First Aid. • Recognize survivors who are at increased risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes. 
• Identify the 8 Core Actions of Psychological First Aid and the related goal(s) and key tasks.

PTSD > VA National Center for PTSD has the following training programs available

[This is a great resource for veteran's with PTSD.  Please pass on info to a friend in need...]

Training Programs

The National Center for PTSD offers an in-person Clinical Training Program, Postdoctoral Training, and Internships. In addition, the National Center is also training VA clinicians in evidence-based treatments as part of two national rollouts by VA's Office of Mental Health Services. For online training related to PTSD, seePTSD 101.

Clinical Training Program

The National Center's Dissemination and Training Division, located in California, offers an on-site Clinical Training Program in the treatment of posttraumatic stress. The training program is 35 hours long, and is approved for category 1 continuing medical education credit.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Several divisions of the National Center for PTSD offer APA-approved postdoctoral fellowships in psychology. Please see the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) website for more information. www.appic.org*. Also see a listing of our Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Internship Program

Several divisions of the National Center for PTSD offer approved pre-doctoral internships for psychology: Behavioral Science; Clinical Neurosciences; Dissemination and Training, Women's Health; and Pacific Islands. Please see the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) website for more information www.appic.org*.

TALIBAN HOTEL ATTACK > Low Death Toll, High Psychological Value | STRATFOR

STRATFOR.COMJuly 7, 2011 | 0853 GMTBy Scott Stewart

At about 10 p.m. on June 28, a group of heavily armed militants attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan. According to government and media reports, the attack team consisted of eight or nine militants who were reportedly wearing suicide vests in addition to carrying other weapons. At least three of the attackers detonated their vests during the drawn-out fight. Afghan security forces, assisted by International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), needed some eight hours to clear the hotel of attackers. One group of militants even worked their way up to the roof of the hotel, where they fired several rocket-propelled grenades.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 12 people, as well as all the militants. The Taliban had a different take on the attack, posting a series of statements on their website claiming responsibility and saying the assault was conducted by eight operatives who killed 90 people and that the real news of their success was being suppressed. (Initially, the Taliban claimed to have killed 200 in the attack but reduced the toll to 90 in later statements.)

Read more: Taliban Hotel Attack: Low Death Toll, High Psychological Value | STRATFOR 

FREE Course > Surviving Field Stress for First Responders

[For those of you that do not want to take the course, I have attached the 60 page  > handbook  that is of the same title.  A must have for anyone who is a first responder...]

First responders to a traumatic event are tasked with applying their expertise under incredibly stressful conditions. This webcast deals with the physical, emotional, and mental stressors first responders face when called to a technological disaster. It gives practical coping strategies and resources for dealing with stress.

Goal   To help the responder or those they assist be prepared for the stressors of twenty-first century disasters.

Objectives   Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be able to: Describe psychological stress. Explain common causes of stress. Describe the mental and physical health effects of excessive stress. Describe the social, physical, and emotional causes of first responders stress. Identify methods to cope with field related stress. Identify strategies for assisting members of the public adults and children, with their disaster-related stress in your role as first responder.

Target Audience   Health-care providers, federal, state, and local public health and emergency management officials.

Mental Health Month > You Are Not Alone

EXCELLENT resource for military personnel, please forward to your National Guard and active duty friends.  Who knows, you may save a life...

Video > Food helps brain injuries in warriors

FREE FOG > Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide (FOG)

To obtain the FREE Psychological First Aid FOG go to >
 http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/manuals/psych-first-aid.asp

FREE Course and Manual > Surviving Field Stress for First Responders

[This is a CDC online course.  Below is course description.]

atsdr.cdc.gov

ATSDR Surviving Field Stress for First Responders (Web on Demand)
Course Number: WD1650

This webcast is designed for all professionals who would be called to be first responders in todays all-hazards disasters. The purpose of the course is 1) to help first responders cope with the field stressors of the twenty-first century disaster and 2) to provide brief tips on how responders can perform psychological first aid in the field to help the general public during and in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. This course presents experienced responders talking about how they cope with stress as well as medical information on how to cope with stress, signs and symptoms of unusual stress, and some of the consequences of long-term chronic stress. In addition to the webcast, there is an accompanying manual with further information and a Powerpoint presentation summarizing the information presented.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Our primary target audience is all personnel (federal , state, and local) who could be called to respond to todays all-hazards disasters.

CE Expiration Date: 12/16/2011

Course Webpage >
 http://www2a.cdc.gov/TCEOnline/registration/detailpage.asp?res_id=2493
Here is a draft copy of the "Surviving Field Stress for First Responders" manual >
http://www2.cdc.gov/phtn/webcast/stress-05/TrainingWorkbookstress-editp1.pdf

Survivor vs Quitter > SEALFIT, Forging Mental Toughness

This is an excellent article describing the difference between surviving and not surviving, the mental toughness it takes to do BOTH!  Okay, so it is written by a company selling a product, but the article is excellent none the less.  In fact, that it is written by a company selling something, is probably why it is such a great article. 5 minute read. Read more...

Image courtesy of:  sealfit.infusionsoft.com

Disaster Health > FEMA blog on Disasters and Public Health (5min read)

[Very good article to end National Public Health week.  Dr. Lurie describes the need for public and private health care facilities to come to the table and plan for coordinating disaster health response needs, and to make it an everyday practice.  She also touches on the need for individual citizen's to step up to the plate and become more responsible for themselves, in a very 'soft manner'.]

Galveston Island, TX, September 18, 2008 --
Members of the Iowa-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team help to move a patient along with flight nurses and medics who will be transporting patients to hospitals that are operating outside of the area impacted by Hurricane Ike

Article webpage :  http://blog.fema.gov/2011/04/guest-post-disasters-and-public-health.html

Mental Health> Chronic Illnesses Major Issues Following Japanese Earthquake

[Story about mental health needs in Japan, post Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.  Mental health, of course, is a critical component in disasters of all types.]

http://www.emergencymgmt.com/health/Mental-Health-Chronic-Illnesses-Japanese-040711.html