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This web page explores the impacts working with disaster survivors may have on rescue workers, volunteers, healthcare professionals, and journalists and provides strategies for resilience and self-care. It explores tips for avoiding retraumatization of people receiving services and discusses the importance of professional wellness, noting possibilities for burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization.
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This web page provides information for K–12 school administrators and staff, as well as students and families, related to emergency planning. It discusses the impacts of emergencies; what to do before, during, and after school emergencies; and preventing the spread of infections in schools. It also includes links to further resources on school safety and emergency planning.
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This web page 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, including online trainings and tip sheets.
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Designed for law enforcement officers, this free online course describes common stressors in the line of duty and identifies ways to manage stress. The course highlights signs and symptoms of stress, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts that law enforcement officers may notice in themselves or their coworkers. It also provides information on where and how to seek additional help.
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This free, 1-hour online course for fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel provides information on stressors and behavioral health issues and conditions that are more common in fire and EMS. It also covers techniques for healthy coping and stress management.
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This resource provides guidance for preventing and managing stress before, during, and after a disaster response assignment. It explores signs of stress and highlights tips individuals can use throughout disaster response and recovery to increase resilience.
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This resource provides guidance for preventing and managing stress before, during, and after a disaster response assignment. It explores signs of stress and highlights tips individuals can use throughout disaster response and recovery to increase resilience.
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This web page gives an overview of the unique stressors that may affect rural communities. It also provides resources on topics to help individuals with financial pressures, workforce development, and personal stress management.
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This 8-minute video provides Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program crisis counselors, or anyone working with disaster survivors, with techniques for stress management and self-care. The video explains that providing support for disaster survivors, while important and rewarding, can cause distress; offers concrete tips for self-care; and includes a demonstration of a breathing exercise to reduce stress.
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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.
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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.
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Provided through Prepare Iowa, a collaboration of the Iowa Department of Health and the University of Iowa, this 1-hour course uses scenarios to teach concepts of Psychological First Aid in responding to disasters. The course is designed to help participants assess survivors for trauma and use mental health interventions to help stabilize survivors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
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This article reviews advances that have been made in research and experience after 9/11 that have led to the development of evidence-based and evidence-informed guidelines and strategies to support the design and implementation of public mental health programs after terrorism and disaster. [Authors: Watson, P.J., Brymer, M. J., and Bonanno, G. A.]
Designed for victim services and emergency and disaster response organizations, this toolkit defines various trauma; provides information and tools to help organizations become vicarious trauma-informed; and offers information and resources for professionals in the areas of emergency medical services, fire services, and law enforcement.
This web page discusses how multiple disasters may affect communities. It highlights signs of the need to seek help for someone struggling to cope with reactions, offers tips for supporting people affected by multiple disasters, and provides links to related resources.
This workshop, designed for senior elected, appointed, and community leaders in a specific jurisdiction, is intended to increase understanding of the all-hazards disaster preparedness roles and responsibilities of various community leaders, share strategies and best practices, and enhance coordination. It is fully funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and delivered at a time and place requested by a particular jurisdiction.