This 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.

This 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.

This 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.

This 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.

This tip sheet describes aspects of the transition families go through when a member returns home after a disaster deployment. It also suggests ways that family members other than the responder can navigate the transition and support the responder in coping with the return home.

This 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.

This 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.

This fact sheet explores stress management for staff as they return from their disaster response assignment. The resource explores stress management techniques that can be introduced to the workplace to encourage self-care for all team members.

This tip sheet explains how families are typically notified after a disaster that their relatives are missing or deceased, and it emphasizes the importance of working with local authorities on notification of families in a sensitive, appropriate way. It offers do’s and don’ts for disaster responders helping local and national authorities make families aware that their relatives are missing or dead following a disaster.

This tip sheet provides guidance on communicating with the media for responders serving communities affected by disasters that involved the death of many people. The tip sheet emphasizes the importance of preparation and of identifying a set number of people who will provide information to the media. It also offers tips specifically for media interviews.

This tip sheet describes how people with serious mental illness may experience and respond to disasters. It identifies ways in which people with serious mental illness are more vulnerable than others in disasters and problems they may face. It also offers tips for disaster planners and responders for helping people with serious mental illness and their families with disaster planning and in the aftermath of a disaster.

This part of the American Red Cross (ARC) website describes ways for people to volunteer with ARC before, during, and after disasters to improve community physical and mental health outcomes. For those interested in serving as disaster volunteers with ARC, free online disaster mental health training is provided.

This tip sheet describes how responding to acts of violence, civil unrest, or terrorism can affect responders. The tip sheet lists steps that leaders can take in support of the mental health and resilience of their teams, tips for workload and stress management, and signs of compassion fatigue and related issues.

This brochure describes trauma that children and adolescents may experience, including trauma associated with natural and human-caused disasters. It indicates how children and adolescents may respond to trauma and how rescue workers can help children and adults cope with stressors and trauma, and it identifies sources of additional information and support.

This page shares five elements that are related to better early- and mid-term recovery after disasters, including promoting a sense of psychological safety, promoting calming, and instilling hope. It also discusses Psychological First Aid (PFA), an evidence-informed, modular approach for helping disaster survivors, and explains how PFA can be used to reduce distress through eight core actions.

This page discusses ways that disaster responders and mental health treatment professionals can help survivors of disasters in the weeks or months following the disaster. The page suggests ways to reach the full community of survivors and describes Skills for Psychological Recovery, an intervention designed to be used after Psychological First Aid has been used in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

This web page provides information for people who are traveling out of the United States to support individuals and communities, including those that have been affected by disasters. It suggests steps for humanitarian aid workers to take before, during, and after travel to protect their health.

This tip sheet provides information on how responders can apply PFA during and in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It highlights actions to take in interacting with survivors, things not to say or do in providing PFA, and the importance of training in PFA for a range of types of responders.

This tip sheet provides an overview of Psychological First Aid (PFA), an approach to assisting disaster survivors in meeting their needs. It presents key principles of PFA and then lists do’s and don’ts in keeping with the approach to help survivors to reconnect with important people in their lives, activate their resilience, and move toward greater adjustment and well-being after a disaster.

This tip sheet provides an overview of Psychological First Aid (PFA), an approach to assisting disaster survivors in meeting their needs. It presents key principles of PFA and then lists do’s and don’ts in keeping with the approach to help survivors to reconnect with important people in their lives, activate their resilience, and move toward greater adjustment and well-being after a disaster.

This fact sheet explores the challenges facing healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks and provide strategies for ensuring self-care and well-being. It includes a list of stress management tips, such as taking breaks from work and communicating with colleagues, to avoid burnout and build resilience while providing services.

This tip sheet notes the importance of developing stress management skills before responding to a disaster, as well as using these skills in coping with the stress often involved in disaster response. It suggests steps to take before, during, and after deployment; identifies signs of stress; and lists sources of additional support.

This 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.

This 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.

This tip sheet defines historical trauma and describes impacts of historical trauma in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) cultures and communities. The tip sheet also provides tips to help responders prepare to support AIAN communities that have been affected by disasters.