DHSES Hosts Disaster Mental Health Response Team Exercise

Photos Available Here

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services today, in conjunction with the State Office of Mental Health, announced the successful completion of the first ever scenario-based training exercise for the Disaster Mental Health Response Team. The event was held at the DHSES State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany from September 17 - 18, bringing together more than 76 professionals and volunteers from across the state. The exercise, that was conducted as part of Governor Hochul's efforts to strengthen resources and services for first responders, engaged with trained role players to practice providing counseling and other mental health services to individuals and responders after a simulated active shooter incident.

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray said, "Mental health professionals provide critical care to first responders after an active shooter situation. The skills learned at these trainings give them important tools to help reduce the emotional trauma of those affected by these incidents."

Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, "We can help mitigate the trauma and long-term mental health impact of disasters by providing immediate support for those most affected. These teams offer immediate psychological first aid to individuals in the aftermath of a disaster so that they can get the proper mental health support to recover. This training exercise provided us an opportunity to watch these teams in action and help them prepare for future responses."

The first of its kind training, enhanced response team members' capabilities to provide psychological first aid through participation in realistic exercise scenarios. Lessons learned detailed how disaster mental healthcare can be built into future exercises and leveraged more effectively during actual events.

The State Office of Mental Health is partnering with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and the Institute for Disaster Mental Health to develop a disaster mental health response statewide. Disaster mental health responders may be activated to support disaster response operations and provide a compassionate presence, immediate psychological first aid and additional support as needed to address the early and expected stress reactions to disasters.

OMH is leveraging federal funding to further develop and train the disaster mental health team, with plans underway to help develop and support local and regional teams. Likewise, DHSES has been working with OMH and the institute to identify additional first responder mental health-related training opportunities, including peer-to-peer courses offered at the State Preparedness Training Center.

Peer support teams include individuals with lived experience to provide emotional, social, and practical support when needed. Peer support teams are often used within public safety organizations to help individuals deal with job-related stress and following critical incidents.

About the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services provides leadership, coordination and support for efforts to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism and other man-made and natural disasters, threats, fires and other emergencies. For more information, visit the DHSES Facebook page, follow @NYSDHSES on Twitter and Instagram, or visit dhses.ny.gov.

###

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.