EDUCATION	  FACT	  SHEETS:	  Tailored	  and	  Timely	  Disaster	  Mental	  Health	  Response	  Eric	  G	  Meyer	  MD,	  Jorge	  M	  HasDngs,	  Brian	  W	  Flynn	  EdD,	  James	  C	  West	  MD,	  Joshua	  C	  Morganstein	  MD	  Center	  for	  the	  Study	  of	  Trauma.c	  Stress,	  Department	  of	  Psychiatry,	  Uniformed	  Services	  University	  of	  the	  Health	  Sciences,	  Bethesda,	  MD	  ABSTRACT	  The	  behavioral	  choices	  people	  make	  in	  the	  wake	  of	  a	  disaster,	  such	  as	  staying	  in	  place,	  evacua:ng,	  seeking	  or	  not	  seeking	  medical	  care,	  and	   searching	   for	   loved	   ones	   have	   very	   real	   life	   and	   death	  implica:ons.	   Eﬀec:ve	   mental	   health	   disaster	   response	   requires	  :mely	   and	   accurate	   informa:on	   for	   vic:ms,	   ﬁrst	   responders,	  leaders,	  family	  members	  and	  other	  eﬀected	  stakeholders	  to	  be@er	  inform	   their	   decision	   making.	   Because	   cogni:on	   changes	   during	  crises,	   the	   delivery	   of	   educa:onal	   informa:on	   designed	   to	  inﬂuence	   behavior	   should	   consider	   several	   important	   issues.	  
Disaster	  educa:on	  should	  be	  :mely	  and	  accurate.	  It	  should	  address	  predictable	   issues	   of	   concern	   to	   those	   eﬀected,	   while	   informing	  them	   of	   ac:ons	   to	   take	   and	   those	   to	   avoid.	   The	   Center	   for	   the	  Study	   of	   Trauma:c	   Stress	   (CSTS)	   has	   developed	   a	   systema:c	  process	   for	   the	   development	   of	   disaster	   response	   educa:on	   fact	  sheets.	   The	   process	   involves	   rapidly	   incorpora:ng	   subject-­‐ma@er	  experts	   that	   provide	   educa:onal	   guidance	   based	   on	   the	   events	  surrounding	  a	  speciﬁc	  disaster.	  This	  informa:on	  is	  used	  to	  develop	  customized	   fact	   sheets	   that	   provide	   cri:cal	   educa:on	   to	   those	  impacted	   by	   a	   disaster.	   These	   fact	   sheets	   are	   ﬁnalized	   within	  twenty-­‐four	   hours	   of	   the	   disaster	   event.	   They	   are	   subsequently	  disseminated	   to	   a	   broad	   range	   of	   na:onal	   and	   interna:onal	  partners	  and	  relevant	  stakeholder	  organiza:ons	  by	  email	  and	  social	  media	   as	   well	   as	   hard	   copy	   if	   needs	   dictate.	   The	   CSTS	   disaster	  mental	   health	   fact	   sheet	   development	   and	   dissemina:on	   process	  has	   been	   reﬁned	   over	   more	   than	   ﬁMeen	   years	   of	   disaster	   mental	  health	   response	   and	   used	   to	   assist	   in	   direc:ng	   the	   response	   of	  vic:m	   advocacy	   organiza:ons,	   healthcare	   personnel,	   ﬁrst	  responders,	   and	   community	   leaders	   in	   the	   management	   of	   over	   70	  disaster	  events.	  	  IMPACT	  • Eases	  the	  educaDonal	  burden	  for	  organizaDons	  oKen	  in	  crisis	  or	  responding	  to	  a	  crisis.	  
• Provides	  very	  rapid	  educaDonal	  evidence	  based	  informaDon	  from	  a	  credible	  source.	  
• Fact	  sheets	  are	  in	  the	  public	  domain	  so:	  they	  are	  free	  to	  recipient,	  reproducible	  without	  obstacles,	  and	  easily	  customizable	  for	  recipients	  own	  purposes.	  
• Address	  a	  range	  of	  issues	  for	  a	  variety	  of	  audiences	  some	  of	  which	  may	  be	  tradiDonally	  overlooked	  (i.e.;	  leaders).	  

PROCESS	  DISASTER	  REGIONAL	  AND	  NATIONAL	  RESPONSE	  NETWORKS	  LOCAL	  DISASTER	  	  RESPONSE	  NETWORK	  Determine	  relevant	  factors	  impac:ng	  disaster	  response	  from	  local,	  regional	  and	  na:onal	  sources.	  	  h	  21	  –	  2FACT	  SHEET	  FACT	  SH	  EETFAC 	  	  GENERAL	  GENEINFO	  T	  SHGREANL	  INFO	  EET	  	  	  ERA	  Monitor	  news	  and	  social	  media	  to	  assess	  scope	  of	  disaster,	  es:mate	  impact,	  and	  determine	  aﬀected	  popula:on.	  

L	  IN	  	  FO	  	  	  	   	  	  RINICIPLES	  BASIC	  BASPIC
BAS	  PRINICIP
L
IC	  P
RINI ES	  CIPLES	  CSTS	  SMEs	  (child,	  military,	  trauma,	  public	  health,	  mental	  health,	  policy)	  review	  and	  provide	  ﬁnal	  inputs	  based	  on	  unique	  facets	  of	  disaster	  and	  aﬀected	  popula:on.	  

Maintain	  a	  searchable	  online	  repository	  at	  www.cstsonline.org	  of	  disaster	  educa:on	  “Fact	  Sheets”	  and	  trusted	  reference	  materials	  to	  support	  disaster	  educa:on,	  consulta:on	  and	  training.	  

FACT

New	  fact	  sheets	  incorporate	  current	  best	  evidence	  and	  lessons	  learned	  to	  enhance	  online	  repository	  of	  disaster	  educa:on	  resources.	  	  

T	  FACT	  	  SH	  EESHEET	  SPFACT	  ECIFICSHEET	  	  INFO	  	   	  INFO	   	  CFI	   INFO	  SPECI SPECIFIC	  	  	  	  FOCUS	  	  EIPDL	  EPSR	  INICIP	   ED	  PRINIC	  LES	  S
UC
FO FOCUSED	  PRINICIPLES	  	  ADDITIONAL	  RESOURCES	  • Flynn	  BW,	  Morganstein	  JC.	  Curriculum	  recommenda.ons	  for	  disaster	  health	  profesionals:	  disaster	  behavioral	  health.	  
Ncdmph.usuhs.edu/Documents/
BehavioralHealthRecommenda:ons-­‐201401.pdf	  • Covello,	  VT	  (2003).	  Best	  prac:ces	  in	  public	  health	  risk	  and	  crisis	  communica:on.	  Journal	  of	  Health	  Communica.on,	  8(S1),	  5-­‐8.	  
• Ursano,	  RJ,	  Fullerton,	  CS,	  Raphael,	  B,	  Weisaeth,	  L	  (Eds.).	  (2007).	  
Textbook	  of	  Disaster	  Psychiatry.	  London,	  UK:	  Cambridge	  University	  Press.	  
• h@p://www.cstsonline.org/resources/fact-­‐sheet-­‐search	  The	  views	  expressed	  in	  this	  presenta:on	  are	  those	  of	  the	  author(s)	  and	  do	  not	  reﬂect	  the	  oﬃcial	  policy	  of	  the	  Department	  of	  Army/Navy/Air	  Force,	  Department	  of	  Defense,	  or	  U.S.	  Government.	  

FAMILIES	  /	  CHILDREN	  HEALTH	  CARE	  LEADERSHIP	  CSTS	  SUBJECT	  MATTER	  	  EXPERTS	  REVIEW	  FIRST	  RESPONDERS	  Final	  fact	  sheets	  distributed	  	  to	  a	  broad	  range	  of	  stakeholders	  throughout	  the	  aﬀected	  popula:on.