Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Disaster Behavioral Health Information Series (DBHIS) installment focuses on the behavioral health effects of responding to a disaster. It provides resources on self-care for disaster responders, as well as specific disaster behavioral health interventions that responders can use to help survivors recover from a disaster. The annotated bibliography includes links to specific tip sheets, guides, and other resources that can be used in the field, and the helpful links page provides a list of organizations and agencies with more information.

Resources are organized as follows:

Annotated Bibliography

• Materials for Self-Care and Stress Management—Resources for disaster responders to use in monitoring and protecting their own behavioral health and emotional wellbeing while responding to an emergency or disaster
• General Disaster Response
• Deployment Guidance
• Leaders and Supervisors
• Substance Use after a Disaster
• Disaster Behavioral Health Interventions—Resources, including tip sheets and guides, that contain early behavioral health interventions and practical suggestions for disaster responders to utilize when assisting people who have just experienced a traumatic event
• Psychological First Aid (PFA)

Helpful Links

• Organizations Working with Disaster Responders
• Suicide Prevention
• Disaster Response Professions
• General Disaster Response
• Emergency Medical Services
• Firefighters
• Law Enforcement