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Developed by the World Health Organization, the AUDIT is a brief (10-item) screening tool that primary care practitioners, healthcare paraprofessionals, and individuals can use to screen others, or themselves, for problematic alcohol use. The AUDIT is provided in both interview and self-report versions and includes illustrations and measures of standard drinks.
View ResourceThe National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians offers this collection of resources for emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to help them understand and manage their own work-related stressors and mental health and support the individuals they serve. The collection includes articles, research, online information, and hotlines.
View ResourceDesigned as a peer education effort for firefighters, this website features videos in which firefighters, fire chiefs, and captains talk about stress and trauma that may be involved in work as a firefighter, as well as experiences of seeking and taking part in treatment. Firefighters Helping Firefighters was created in partnership with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
View ResourceAlthough the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health developed this web page in response to 2017 hurricanes that hit the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the page provides information relevant to any responder deployed to support communities after hurricanes and floods. The page provides information about stress and coping, and links are provided to resources for more information.
View ResourceThis free, on-demand online course describes Stress First Aid and prepares fire, emergency medical services, and rescue personnel to use this technique, which includes several actions responders can use to manage stress for themselves and their teams. While the course is available free of charge, people need to set up a free account with the Fire Hero Learning Network website to access it.
View ResourceThis 2-hour online course covers stress management for first responders—including stress they experience in the field as they assist others as well as the stress people they help may be experiencing due to a disaster. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Public Health Training Network also contributed to the production of this course.
View ResourceThis tip sheet describes some of the challenges involved in disaster response work and how these challenges may make responders more vulnerable to substance misuse. It lists signs of substance misuse, suggests ways to address substance misuse issues in yourself or someone you care about, and identifies resources for additional support.
View ResourceThis 30-minute training is intended for emergency responders who work shifts longer than normal work hours. It gives an overview of how long hours can affect an individual’s health and provides tips for taking care of yourself during active duty.
View ResourceThis tip sheet suggests ways for disaster responders to manage the transition back to work after deployment for a response effort. It identifies ways to bolster personal resilience and address issues that responders commonly encounter when returning to work, and it presents signs of the need for additional support related to mental health or substance use.
View ResourceThe Headington Institute offers a variety of trainings, educational materials, and counseling and consultation services for humanitarian relief and development workers and emergency responders. It does work to support the well-being of responders and response organizations and the effectiveness of response efforts.
View ResourceThis online brochure provides physical and psychological safety tips for disaster responders. The brochure notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Resilience and Mental Health Team supported development of this resource. A section of the brochure describes resilience to stress, lists signs of stress, and suggests ways to build resilience.
View ResourceThis free online course is designed to prepare first responders and others to maintain psychological health during and after emergency response to serve others more effectively. The course defines and describes stress, explains potential effects of work with survivors, and offers tools and tips for managing stress. Although the course is offered free of charge, registration with the CoursePlus website is required to complete it.
View ResourceAn organization with more than 65,000 members, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) represents paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency medical responders, and other emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. NAEMT provides education for EMS professionals, supports research and innovation in EMS, and does work to improve both patient care and work environments for EMS professionals.
View ResourceThis 60-minute webcast identifies types and sources of stress that disaster behavioral health responders may face, as well as methods of self-care. It also covers ways that supervisors and managers of disaster behavioral health responders can support their teams in coping with stress.
View ResourceThis tip sheet describes compassion fatigue and its components, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. It offers tips for coping with compassion fatigue, and it also describes compassion satisfaction and notes ways to foster compassion satisfaction among members of your response team.
View ResourceThis part of the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC) website explains that responders face heightened risk of mental illness and substance use disorders due to the nature of their work. It identifies signs of stress; ways to manage stress; and related resources from SAMHSA DTAC, including online trainings, webcasts, and tip sheets.
View ResourceThis pamphlet defines and describes indirect trauma, which is sometimes also referred to as compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma. It explains how indirect traumatization occurs, highlights effects of indirect trauma, and suggests ways to cope.
View ResourceThis tip sheet describes grief and the grieving process, both of which are often associated with disasters. It suggests ways to support survivors, as well as highlighting signs of complicated or traumatic grief or other grief that may require professional mental health care.
View ResourceThe ProQOL is a commonly used measure of the negative and positive effects of helping others who have experienced suffering and trauma, including disaster survivors. The ProQOL has sub-scales for compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress.
View ResourceThis 41-page manual for first responders and other disaster responders gives information on how to include communities it collectively refers to as newcomers—immigrants, refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied children—in disaster planning, response, and recovery. It describes unique qualities of newcomer communities; recommendations; and tools to support disaster planning, response, and recovery that includes newcomers.
View ResourceThis webcast, which runs for about an hour, provides information that can be used to assess and strengthen cultural awareness practices in disaster behavioral health programs and services. The webcast provides guiding principles for cultural awareness and discusses lessons learned from past disaster behavioral health programs.
View ResourceThis website provides information about trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for a variety of audiences.
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This double issue of "The Dialogue," the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center’s quarterly newsletter, focuses on cultural sensitivity in disaster behavioral health programs. The contributors to this newsletter discuss implementing disaster behavioral health programs in various communities. Contributors also share tips and information on how to work with different populations.
View ResourceThis guide offers information and suggestions to help emergency managers, planners, and responders include individuals with disabilities in disaster planning and preparedness, response, and recovery.
View ResourceThis toolkit is designed to support delivery of a training for mental health and other professionals on supporting children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in coping with and recovering from trauma. The curriculum covers the definition of intellectual and developmental disabilities, how intellectual and developmental disabilities and trauma can delay development in children, and ways to work with children and their families.
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