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Disaster Behavioral Health Information Series Resource Center
The SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC) provides various resources and useful information for those in the disaster behavioral health field.
All resources for which links are provided are in the public domain or have been authorized for noncommercial use. Hardcopies of some materials may be ordered. If you use content from resources in this collection in program materials, you should acknowledge the source of the materials.
Did you know you can download your search results? Simply apply search filters and then click on the Download Filtered Resources link to obtain a .csv file with the resources you have found, including each resource’s name, description, date, URL, and source.
This tip sheet discusses the steps workplace leaders can take to understand the emotional reactions employees may have when returning to work following an incident of violence in a workplace.
This tip sheet lists emotional reactions employees may have when returning to their work routines following a violent workplace incident. The author lists steps that can be taken to reduce the negative effects immediately after and in the days and weeks after the traumatic incident occurs.
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 fact sheet offers advice to leaders on crafting effective messages about high-stress topics, such as public health emergencies. It echoes other risk and crisis communication resources in highlighting the importance of developing messages in advance of a crisis.
The goal of this tip sheet is to provide guidance to managers regarding their role in workplace recovery following a disaster. Tips address taking care of the team and the workplace environment during the recovery process.
This tip sheet provides guidance to help leaders understand their role in individual and community recovery following a tragedy such as a natural or human-caused disaster. This resource offers leaders communication strategies for the immediate aftermath of a tragedy as well as throughout the recovery process. The list of common symptoms of grief can also help leaders provide support and plan recovery activities.
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.
Written after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, this tip sheet provides information for parents and professionals on how to communicate with children after a mass shooting or other traumatic event. It includes reactions to a traumatic event that children commonly experience and suggestions for talking with children and answering their questions about an incident of mass violence.
This tip sheet discusses how parents and caregivers can communicate well and increase a child’s sense of safety immediately after and in the days and weeks after a traumatic event, with a focus on violent incidents. Also included are tips for emergency planning with children and online resources for additional assistance for adults concerned about how a child is reacting to an incident of violence.
In this fact sheet, the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress offers guidance on pandemic influenza preparedness and response. The authors list steps that officials can take to support communities in preparedness, response, and recovery, and to plan for mental health interventions such as effective risk and safety communication and Psychological First Aid.
This fact sheet explains the types of issues that reservists may experience when they make the transition from active duty back to their former job or workplace. Appropriate for both the military and civilian community, it can also be used as an educational tool for professionals.
This fact sheet describes the effect of depression on members of the military and their families. It also covers how the primary care setting can be used to help with early identification and intervention.
The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress is dedicated to advancing trauma-informed knowledge, leadership, and methodologies. The Center’s work addresses a wide scope of trauma exposure from the consequences of combat, operations other than war, and terrorism, to natural and human-caused disasters and public health threats.
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 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 web page includes links to resources for healthcare professionals, leaders, and others responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. It features fact sheets on healthcare worker self-care and stress management and on leading teams as they respond to the pandemic, as well as webinars, websites, and publications on disaster behavioral health, Psychological First Aid, sleep health, and fostering team resilience.
This webpage contains five fact sheets about Ebola preparedness. One fact sheet focuses on steps members of the general public can take to protect their health. Another is for health care providers and gives tips on how to recognize Ebola, and also how to talk to patients who are worried about the outbreak. There is also a fact sheet for community leaders that describes effective communication tactics in high-stress situations.
This fact sheet offers information on triage, early psychological interventions, and patient education to help disaster responders help themselves, colleagues, and survivors of a radiological incident.
This tip sheet identifies challenges in serving as a healthcare professional after a disaster and suggests ways to cope. It highlights common reactions to stressors involved in providing health care in a disaster setting, as well as ideas for managing stress and challenging emotions while providing healthcare services to disaster survivors.
This program works to help prevent suicide, with a focus on military service members and their families but relevance also to first responders, healthcare professionals, and communities. The program offers many resources through its website, some still in development, including podcasts, videos, and tip sheets.
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.