|
HURRICANE
KATRINA RECOVERY EFFORTS
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
For DMHAS/DCF
Behavioral Health Disaster Response Team Members Only
Please respond to CTRP
(by email) by Friday, September 09 before 12:00 P.M.
THIS IS Not A DRILL
DMHAS and DCF (with the assistance of CTRP) are
continuing to work out how our behavioral health crisis response team
members might be of assistance in the recovery efforts that are underway
for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In order to move forward with our
planning, it is important that we determine how many of our Behavioral
Health Disaster Team members might be available for deployment.
IF you are interested in a possible deployment, please
consider the following:
>> You must be able to commit to an assignment
of at least two weeks duration.
>> The assignment may involve HARDSHIP
CONDITIONS, such as extreme heat without air conditioning, eating
“Meals Ready to Eat” (MREs), sleeping on a floor mat or cot in a
staff shelter, using a portable toilet, etc.
>> Your deployment would be completely
voluntary. You are not obligated to make a final commitment until you
have the details that you need to make your decision.
>>If you wish to volunteer, you should take the
following steps:
1. Please speak with your
supervisor/employer indicating your interest in deployment to provide
mental health crisis response services.
2. Clarify your options with
your employer regarding leave, compensation, etc. NOTE to State
Employees: CGS Sec. 5-249 (b) provides a mechanism for state
employees to be assist with disaster relief work through the American
Red Cross. The statute provides that any state employee who is a
certified disaster service volunteer of the American Red Cross (ARC) may
be granted a leave, not to exceed fourteen days in each year to
participate in specialized disaster relief services for the ARC. Staff
must demonstrate that American Red Cross has requested their
participation and they must have their supervisor’s approval. The
leave, if granted, would occur without loss of pay, vacation time, sick
leave or earned overtime accumulation.
3. Respond to CTRP (by email)
by Friday, September 09 before 12:00 p.m. indicating whether you would
be available for deployment.
We will continue to keep you informed in the coming
days of our response planning. Thank you for your consideration of this
matter. For further information regarding Hurricane Katrina recovery
efforts already underway and resource materials related to these
recovery efforts and behavioral health, please see below.
________________________
~ CTRP Tested Preparedness
during "TOPOFF 3"
~ Team Members joined in this International Counterterrorism Exercise
During the week of April 4th, 2005, the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security conducted the Top Officials "TOPOFF
3" full-scale, international counterterrorism exercise involving
the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. As the name implies, top
officials from all levels of government ~ national, state and local ~
participated. The TOPOFF 3 scenario depicted terrorist events
originating in New London, Connecticut and Union and Middlesex Counties
in New Jersey leading to National and International Response. It was
designed to strengthen the nation's capacity to prevent, prepare for,
respond to and recover from large-scale terrorist attacks.
For the past several months, Connecticut leaders
(including DMHAS and DCF leadership) were working to prepare for the
state's role in TOPOFF 3. As part of the exercise, Connecticut tested
its behavioral health response to terrorism. The involvement of the
DMHAS/DCF /CTRP Behavioral Health Crisis Response Teams added a new and
important component to TOPOFF 3 ~ behavioral health. In the two prior TOPOFF exercises (conducted
respectively in 2000 and 2003) a combined 15,000 people participated but
the behavioral health response was not tested in either! Thus Connecticut
was breaking new ground by testing the readiness of our
behavioral health professionals to respond to the needs of our citizens!
More information related to the success of TOPOFF 3
will be posted as it becomes available.
***********************************************
News
Release - American Journal of Public Health
Sept. 11 aftermath includes need for improved psychiatric response to
terrorism
Terrorism preparedness plans should include methods to
better inform the public and health providers on how to seek and offer
help for mental health problems following an attack or disaster.
Researchers surveyed 1,700 Connecticut residents and
asked if they sought mental health treatment following the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks and if they suffered mental health problems such as
symptoms of depression, increases in tobacco or alcohol use or sleep
problems. A large percentage of those surveyed did suffer mental health
problems following the terrorist attack, yet relatively few sought help.
People did not have to be in New York the day of the attack to be
affected.
"Screening people for increases in tobacco use,
alcohol consumption, and sleep problems may be a better method of
identifying individuals in need of formal help in the wake of disaster
than asking general questions regarding whether people are experiencing
mental and behavioral problems," the study's authors wrote.
"Findings such as those from this study should be considered in the
development of service models and response systems for assisting
communities in the aftermath of disasters."
[From: "Predictors of Help Seeking Among
Connecticut Adults After September 11, 2001." Contact: Julian Ford,
PhD, University of Connecticut Health Center, ford@psychiatry.uchc.edu.]
Please note: Julian Ford and Wayne Dailey,
coauthors of this article with Mary Adams, are part of our CTRP
leadership. If interested, you may access the complete article via
this link to AJPH.
|
