II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1452 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a national center 

for public mental health emergency preparedness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a national center for public mental health emergency preparedness, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Mental Health 

5 Emergency Preparedness Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH 

7 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. 

8 (a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The second part G 

9 (relating to services provided through religious organizaVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:09 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1452.IS S1452

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1 tions) of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating such part as part J; and 

4 (2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 

5 as sections 596 through 596C, respectively. 

6 (b) NATIONAL CENTER.—Title V of the Public 

7 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.), as amended 

8 by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘PART K—NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC 

11 MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 

12 ‘‘SEC. 599. NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC MENTAL 

13 HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

17 part, the term ‘emergency health professionals’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(i) mental health professionals, in20 cluding psychiatrists, psychologists, social 

21 workers, counselors, psychiatric nurses, 

22 psychiatric aides and case managers, group 

23 home staff, and those mental health pro24 fessionals with expertise in psychological 

25 trauma and issues related to vulnerable 


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1 populations such as children, older adults, 

2 caregivers, individuals with disabilities, 

3 pre-existing mental health and substance 

4 abuse disorders, and individuals living in 

5 poverty; 

6 ‘‘(ii) public health and healthcare pro7 fessionals, including skilled nursing and as8 sisted living professionals; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) emergency services personnel 

10 such as police, fire, and emergency medical 

11 services personnel. 

12 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—In conducting ac13 tivities under this part, emergency health pro14 fessionals shall coordinate with— 

15 ‘‘(i) county emergency managers; 

16 ‘‘(ii) school personnel such as teach17 ers, counselors, and other personnel; 

18 ‘‘(iii) spiritual care professionals; 

19 ‘‘(iv) other disaster relief personnel; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(v) State and local government offi22 cials that are responsible for emergency 

23 preparedness. 

24 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in con25 sultation with the Director of the Centers for DisVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:09 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1452.IS S1452

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1 ease Control and Prevention, shall establish the Na2 tional Center for Public Mental Health Emergency 

3 Preparedness (referred to in this part as the 

4 ‘NCPMHEP’) to address mental health concerns 

5 and coordinate and implement the development and 

6 delivery of mental health services in conjunction with 

7 the entities described in subsection (b)(2), in the 

8 event of bioterrorism or other public health emer9 gency. 

10 ‘‘(3) LOCATION; DIRECTOR.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 offer to award a grant to an eligible institution 

13 to provide the location of the NCPMHEP. 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—To be an 

15 eligible institution under subparagraph (A), an 

16 institution shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) be an academic medical center or 

18 similar institution that has prior experi19 ence conducting statewide training, and 

20 has a demonstrated record of leadership in 

21 national and international forums, in pub22 lic mental health emergency preparedness, 

23 which may include disaster mental health 

24 preparedness; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary an appli2 cation at such time, in such manner, and 

3 containing such information as the Sec4 retary may require. 

5 ‘‘(C) DIRECTOR.—The NCPMHEP shall 

6 be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed 

7 by the Secretary (referred to in this part as the 

8 ‘Director’) from the eligible institution to which 

9 the Secretary awards a grant under subpara10 graph (A). 

11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The NCPMHEP shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) prepare the Nation’s emergency health 

13 professionals to provide mental health services in the 

14 aftermath of catastrophic events, such as bioter15 rorism or other public health emergencies, that 

16 present psychological consequences for communities 

17 and individuals, including vulnerable populations 

18 such as children, individuals with disabilities, indi19 viduals with preexisting mental health problems (in20 cluding substance-related disorders), older adults, 

21 caregivers, and individuals living in poverty; 

22 ‘‘(2) coordinate with existing mental health pre23 paredness and service delivery efforts of— 

24 ‘‘(A) Federal agencies (such as the Na25 tional Disaster Medical System, the Medical ReVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:09 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1452.IS S1452

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1 serve Corps, the Substance Abuse and Mental 

2 Health Services Administration (including the 

3 National Child Traumatic Stress Network), the 

4 Administration on Aging, the National Institute 

5 of Mental Health, the National Council on Dis6 abilities, the Administration on Children and 

7 Families, the Department of Defense, the De8 partment of Veterans Affairs (including the Na9 tional Center for Post Traumatic Stress Dis10 order), and tribal nations); 

11 ‘‘(B) State agencies (such as the State 

12 mental health authority, office of substance 

13 abuse services, public health authority, depart14 ment of aging, the office of mental retardation 

15 and developmental disabilities, agencies respon16 sible rehabilitation services); 

17 ‘‘(C) local agencies (such as county offices 

18 of mental health and substance abuse services, 

19 public health, child and family community20 based services, law enforcement, fire, emergency 

21 medical services, school districts, Aging Services 

22 Network, county emergency management, and 

23 academic and community-based service centers 

24 affiliated with the National Child Traumatic 

25 Stress Network); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) other governmental and nongovern2 mental disaster relief organizations; and 

3 ‘‘(3) coordinate with childcare centers, childcare 

4 providers, community-based youth serving programs 

5 (including local Center for Mental Health Services 

6 children’s systems of care grant sites), Head Start, 

7 the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and 

8 school districts to provide— 

9 ‘‘(A) support services to adults and their 

10 family members with mental health and sub11 stance-related disorders to facilitate access to 

12 mental health and substance-related treatment; 

13 ‘‘(B) prevention and intervention services 

14 for mental health and substance-related dis15 orders to youth of all ages that integrate the 

16 training curricula under section 599A; and 

17 ‘‘(C) resources and consultation to address 

18 the psychological trauma needs of the families, 

19 caregivers, emergency health professionals; and 

20 all other professionals providing care in emer21 gency situations. 

22 ‘‘(c) PANEL OF EXPERTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consulta24 tion with Federal (such as the National Association 

25 of State Mental Health Program Directors, National 


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1 Association of County and City Health Officials, and 

2 the Association of State and Territorial Health Offi3 cials), State, and local mental health and public 

4 health authorities, shall develop a mechanism to ap5 point a panel of experts for the NCPMHEP. 

6 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The panel of experts 

8 appointed under paragraph (1) shall be com9 posed of individuals— 

10 ‘‘(i) who are— 

11 ‘‘(I) experts in their respective 

12 fields with extensive experience in 

13 public mental health emergency pre14 paredness or service delivery, such as 

15 mental health professionals, research16 ers, spiritual care professionals, school 

17 counselors, educators, and mental 

18 health professionals who are emer19 gency health professionals (as defined 

20 in subsection (a)(1)(A)) and who shall 

21 coordinate with the individuals de22 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B); and 

23 ‘‘(II) recommended by their re24 spective national professional organiVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:09 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1452.IS S1452

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1 zations and universities to such a po2 sition; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) who represent families with fam4 ily members who have mental health and 

5 substance-related disorders. 

6 ‘‘(B) TERMS.—The members of the panel 

7 of experts appointed under paragraph (1)— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall be appointed for a term of 

9 3 years; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) may be reappointed for an unlim11 ited number of terms. 

12 ‘‘(C) BALANCE OF COMPOSITION.—The Di13 rector shall ensure that the membership com14 position of the panel of experts fairly represents 

15 a balance of the type and number of experts de16 scribed under subparagraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(D) VACANCIES.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy on the 

19 panel of experts shall be filled in the man20 ner in which the original appointment was 

21 made and shall be subject to conditions 

22 which applied with respect to the original 

23 appointment. 

24 ‘‘(ii) FILLING UNEXPIRED TERM.—An 

25 individual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be 


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1 appointed for the unexpired term of the 

2 member replaced. 

3 ‘‘(iii) EXPIRATION OF TERMS.—The 

4 term of any member shall not expire before 

5 the date on which the member’s successor 

6 takes office. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 599A. TRAINING CURRICULA FOR EMERGENCY 

8 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. 

9 ‘‘(a) CONVENING OF GROUP.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall convene 

11 a Training Curricula Working Group from the panel 

12 of experts described in section 599(c) to— 

13 ‘‘(A) identify and review existing mental 

14 health training curricula for emergency health 

15 professionals; 

16 ‘‘(B) approve any such training curricula 

17 that are evidence-based or emerging best prac18 tices and that satisfy practice and service deliv19 ery standards determined by the Training Cur20 ricula Working Group; and 

21 ‘‘(C) make recommendations for, and par22 ticipate in, the development of any additional 

23 training curricula, as determined necessary by 

24 the Training Curricula Working Group. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.—The Training Cur2 ricula Working Group shall collaborate with appro3 priate organizations including the American Red 

4 Cross, the National Child Traumatic Stress Net5 work, the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress 

6 Disorder, and the International Society for Trau7 matic Stress Studies. 

8 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE OF TRAINING CURRICULA.—The 

9 Training Curricula Working Group shall ensure that the 

10 training curricula approved by the NCPMHEP— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide the knowledge and skills necessary 

12 to respond effectively to the psychological needs of 

13 affected individuals, relief personnel, and commu14 nities in the event of bioterrorism or other public 

15 health emergency; and 

16 ‘‘(2) is used to build a trained network of emer17 gency health professionals at the State and local lev18 els. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF TRAINING CURRICULA.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Training Curricula 

21 Working Group shall ensure that the training cur22 ricula approved by the NCPMHEP— 

23 ‘‘(A) prepares emergency health profes24 sionals, in the event of bioterrorism or other 

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1 toms of psychological trauma, supplying imme2 diate relief to keep affected persons safe, recog3 nizing when to refer affected persons for fur4 ther mental healthcare or substance abuse 

5 treatment, understanding how and where to 

6 refer for such care, and other components as 

7 determined by the Director in consultation with 

8 the Training Curricula Working Group; 

9 ‘‘(B) includes training or informational 

10 material designed to educate and prepare State 

11 and local government officials, in the event of 

12 bioterrorism or other public health emergency, 

13 in coordinating and deploying mental health re14 sources and services and in addressing other 

15 mental health needs, as determined by the Di16 rector in consultation with the Training Cur17 ricula Working Group; 

18 ‘‘(C) meets the diverse training needs of 

19 the range of emergency health professionals; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(D) is culturally and linguistically com22 petent. 

23 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF CURRICULA.—The Training 

24 Curricula Working Group shall routinely review ex25 isting training curricula and participate in the reviVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:09 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1452.IS S1452

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1 sion of the training curricula described under this 

2 section as necessary, taking into consideration rec3 ommendations made by the participants of the an4 nual national forum under section 599D and the As5 sessment Working Group described under section 

6 599E. 

7 ‘‘(d) TRAINING INDIVIDUALS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) FIELD TRAINERS.—The Director, in con9 sultation with the Training Curricula Working 

10 Group, shall develop a mechanism through which 

11 qualified individuals trained through the curricula 

12 approved by the NCPMHEP return to their commu13 nities to recruit and train others in their respective 

14 fields to serve on local emergency response teams. 

15 ‘‘(2) FIELD LEADERS.—The Director, in con16 sultation with the Training Curricula Working 

17 Group, shall develop a mechanism through which 

18 qualified individuals trained in curricula approved by 

19 the NCPMHEP return to their communities to pro20 vide expertise to State and local government agen21 cies to mobilize the mental health infrastructure of 

22 such State or local agencies, including ensuring that 

23 mental health is a component of emergency pre24 paredness and service delivery of such agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The individuals se2 lected under paragraph (1) or (2) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) pass a designated evaluation, as de4 veloped by the Director in consultation with the 

5 Training Curricula Working Group; and 

6 ‘‘(B) meet other qualifications as deter7 mined by the Director in consultation with the 

8 Training Curricula Working Group. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 599B. USE OF REGISTRIES TO TRACK TRAINED EMER10 GENCY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consultation 

12 with the mental and public health authorities of each State 

13 and appropriate organizations (including the National 

14 Child Traumatic Stress Network), shall coordinate the use 

15 of existing emergency registries (including the Emergency 

16 System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Pro17 fessionals (ESAR–VHP)) established to track medical and 

18 mental health volunteers across all fields and specifically 

19 to track the individuals in the State who have been trained 

20 using the curricula approved by the NCPMHEP under 

21 section 599A. The Director shall ensure that the data 

22 available through such registries and used to track such 

23 trained individuals will be recoverable and available in the 

24 event that such registries become inoperable. 


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1 ‘‘(b) USE OF REGISTRY.—The tracking procedure 

2 under subsection (a) shall be used by the Secretary, the 

3 Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Governor of each 

4 State, for the recruitment and deployment of trained 

5 emergency health professionals in the event of bioter6 rorism or other public health emergency. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 599C. CLEARINGHOUSE FOR PUBLIC MENTAL 

8 HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND 

9 SERVICE DELIVERY. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish and 

11 maintain a central clearinghouse of educational materials, 

12 guidelines, information, strategies, resources, and research 

13 on public mental health emergency preparedness and serv14 ice delivery. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Director shall ensure that the 

16 clearinghouse— 

17 ‘‘(1) enables emergency health professionals and 

18 other members of the public to increase their aware19 ness and knowledge of public mental health emer20 gency preparedness and service delivery, particularly 

21 for vulnerable populations such as children, individ22 uals with disabilities, individuals with pre-existing 

23 mental health problems (including substance-related 

24 disorders), older adults, caregivers, and individuals 

25 living in poverty; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) provides such users with access to a range 

2 of public mental health emergency resources and 

3 strategies to address their community’s unique cir4 cumstances and to improve their skills and capac5 ities for addressing mental health problems in the 

6 event of bioterrorism or other public health emer7 gency. 

8 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY.—The Director shall ensure that 

9 the clearinghouse— 

10 ‘‘(1) is available on the Internet; 

11 ‘‘(2) includes an interactive forum through 

12 which users’ questions are addressed; 

13 ‘‘(3) is fully versed in resources available from 

14 additional Government-sponsored or other relevant 

15 websites that supply information on public mental 

16 health emergency preparedness and service delivery; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(4) includes the training curricula approved by 

19 the NCPMHEP under section 599A. 

20 ‘‘(d) CLEARINGHOUSE WORKING GROUP.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall convene 

22 a Clearinghouse Working Group from the panel of 

23 experts described under section 599(c) to— 

24 ‘‘(A) evaluate the educational materials, 

25 guidelines, information, strategies, resources 


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1 and research maintained in the clearinghouse to 

2 ensure empirical validity; and 

3 ‘‘(B) offer technical assistance to users of 

4 the clearinghouse with respect to finding and 

5 selecting the information and resources avail6 able through the clearinghouse that would most 

7 effectively serve their community’s needs in pre8 paring for, and delivering mental health services 

9 during, bioterrorism or other public health 

10 emergencies. 

11 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The technical 

12 assistance described under paragraph (1) shall in13 clude the use of information from the clearinghouse 

14 to provide consultation, direction, and guidance to 

15 State and local governments and public and private 

16 agencies on the development of public mental health 

17 emergency plans for activities involving prepared18 ness, mitigation, response, recovery, and evaluation. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 599D. ANNUAL NATIONAL FORUM FOR PUBLIC MEN20 TAL HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 

21 AND SERVICE DELIVERY. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall organize an 

23 annual national forum to address public mental health 

24 emergency preparedness and service delivery for emer25 gency health professionals, researchers, scientists, experts 


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1 in public mental health emergency preparedness and serv2 ice delivery, and mental health professionals (including 

3 those with expertise in psychological trauma and issues 

4 related to vulnerable populations such as children, older 

5 adults, caregivers, individuals with disabilities, pre-exist6 ing mental health and substance abuse disorders, and indi7 viduals living in poverty), as well as personnel from rel8 evant Federal (including the National Center for Post 

9 Traumatic Stress Disorder), State, and local agencies (in10 cluding academic and community-based service centers af11 filiated with the National Child Traumatic Stress Net12 work), and other governmental and nongovernmental or13 ganizations. 

14 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE OF FORUM.—The national forum shall 

15 provide the framework for bringing such individuals to16 gether to, based on evidence-based or emerging best prac17 tices research and practice, identify and address gaps in 

18 science, practice, policy, and education, make rec19 ommendations for the revision of training curricula and 

20 for the enhancement of mental health interventions, as ap21 propriate, and make other recommendations as necessary. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 599E. EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUB2 LIC MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY PRE3 PAREDNESS AND SERVICE DELIVERY EF4 FORTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall convene an 

6 Assessment Working Group from the panel of experts de7 scribed in section 599(c), who shall be independent from 

8 those individuals who have developed the NCPMHEP, to 

9 evaluate the effectiveness of the NCPMHEP’s efforts and 

10 those across the Federal Government in building the Na11 tion’s public mental health emergency preparedness and 

12 service delivery capacity. Such group shall include individ13 uals who have expertise on how to assess the effectiveness 

14 of the NCPMHEP’s efforts on vulnerable populations 

15 (such as children, older adults, caregivers, individuals with 

16 disabilities, pre-existing mental health and substance 

17 abuse disorders, and individuals living in poverty). 

18 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE ASSESSMENT WORKING

19 GROUP.—The Assessment Working Group shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) evaluate— 

21 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of each component 

22 of the NCPMHEP, including the identification 

23 and development of training curricula, the 

24 clearinghouse, and the annual national forum; 

25 ‘‘(B) the effects of the training curricula 

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1 gency health professionals and on their delivery 

2 of mental health services in the event of bioter3 rorism or other public health emergency; 

4 ‘‘(C) the effects of the NCPMHEP on the 

5 capacities of State and local government agen6 cies to coordinate, mobilize, and deploy re7 sources and to deliver mental health services in 

8 the event of bioterrorism or other public health 

9 emergency; and 

10 ‘‘(D) other issues as determined by the 

11 Secretary, in consultation with the Assessment 

12 Working Group; and 

13 ‘‘(2) submit the annual report required under 

14 subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT AND INFORMATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—On an annual basis, 

17 the Assessment Working Group shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary and appro19 priate committees of Congress the results of the 

20 evaluation by the Assessment Working Group 

21 under this section; and 

22 ‘‘(B) publish and disseminate the results of 

23 such evaluation on as wide a basis as is prac24 ticable, including through the NCPMHEP 

25 clearinghouse website under section 599C. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—The results of the evalua2 tion under paragraph (1) shall be displayed on the 

3 Internet websites of all entities with representatives 

4 participating in the Assessment Working Group 

5 under this section, including the Federal agencies re6 sponsible for funding the Working Group. 

7 ‘‘(d) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the annual re9 port, the Director, in consultation with the Assess10 ment Working Group, shall make recommendations 

11 to the Secretary— 

12 ‘‘(A) for improving— 

13 ‘‘(i) the training curricula identified 

14 and approved by the NCPMHEP; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the NCPMHEP clearinghouse; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the annual forum of the 

18 NCPMHEP; and 

19 ‘‘(B) regarding any other matter related to 

20 improving mental health preparedness and serv21 ice delivery in the event of bioterrorism or other 

22 public health emergency in the United States 

23 through the NCPMHEP. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Based on the 

25 recommendations provided under paragraph (1), the 


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1 Secretary shall submit recommendations to Congress 

2 for any legislative changes necessary to implement 

3 such recommendations. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 599F. SUBSTANCE ABUSE. 

5 ‘‘For purposes of this part, where ever there is a ref6 erence to providing treatment, having expertise, or provide 

7 training with respect to mental health, such reference shall 

8 include providing treatment, having expertise, or providing 

9 training relating to substance abuse, if determined appro10 priate by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 599G. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this part— 

14 ‘‘(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

15 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

16 years 2008 through 2011.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. DISASTER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TEAMS. 

18 Section 2812(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 300hh–11(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(4) DISASTER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TEAMS

22 AND MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) INCLUSION OF MENTAL HEALTH PRO24 FESSIONALS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The National Dis2 aster Medical System, in consultation with 

3 the National Center for Public Mental 

4 Health Emergency Preparedness (estab5 lished under section 599) and the Emer6 gency Management Assistance Compact, 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) identify licensed mental 

9 health professionals with expertise in 

10 treating vulnerable populations, as 

11 identified under section 599(b)(1); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) ensure that licensed mental 

14 health professionals identified under 

15 subclause (I) are available in local 

16 communities for deployment with Dis17 aster Medical Assistance Teams (in18 cluding speciality mental health 

19 teams). 

20 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION.—The National 

21 Disaster Medical System shall ensure that 

22 licensed mental health professionals are in23 cluded in the leadership of the National 

24 Disaster Medical System, in coordination 

25 with the National Center for Public Mental 


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1 Health Emergency, to provide appropriate 

2 leadership support for behavioral programs 

3 and personnel within the Disaster Medical 

4 Assistance Teams. 

5 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The principal duties of the 

6 licensed mental health professionals identified 

7 and utilized under this paragraph shall be to 

8 assist Disaster Medical Assistance Teams in 

9 carrying out— 

10 ‘‘(i) rapid psychological triage during 

11 an event of bioterrorism or other public 

12 health emergency; 

13 ‘‘(ii) crisis intervention prior to and 

14 during an event of bioterrorism or other 

15 public health emergency; 

16 ‘‘(iii) information dissemination and 

17 referral to specialty care for survivors of 

18 an event of bioterrorism or other public 

19 health emergency; 

20 ‘‘(iv) data collection; and 

21 ‘‘(v) follow-up consultations. 

22 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—The National Disaster 

23 Medical System shall coordinate with the Na24 tional Center for Public Mental Health Emer25 gency Preparedness to ensure that, as part of 


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1 their training, Disaster Medical Assistance 

2 Teams include the training curricula for emer3 gency health professionals established under 

4 section 599A. 

5 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(i) DISASTER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

7 TEAMS.—The term ‘Disaster Medical As8 sistance Teams’ means teams of profes9 sional medical personnel that provide emer10 gency medical care during a disaster or 

11 public health emergency. 

12 ‘‘(ii) RAPID PSYCHOLOGICAL

13 TRIAGE.—The term ‘rapid psychological 

14 triage’ means the accurate and rapid iden15 tification of individuals at varied levels of 

16 risk in the aftermath of a public health 

17 emergency, in order to provide the appro18 priate, acute intervention for those affected 

19 individuals. 

20 ‘‘(iii) DATA COLLECTION.—The term 

21 ‘data collection’ means the use of stand22 ardized, consistent, and accurate methods 

23 to report evidence-based or emerging best 

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1 tained from survivors of an event of bioter2 rorism or other public health emergency.’’. 

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