Large-scale disasters can stress the capacity of hospitals and
clinics to deal with the psychological consequences of the events
for patients, families, and staff members. Health care facilities
usually have general disaster plans for dealing with the medical
consequences of emergencies however, most of their disaster plans
do not address the psychological consequences of such events.
This training manual is designed to fill the gap by providing a
curriculum that can be used to train hospital and clinic staff
about how to prepare for and respond to the psychological
consequences of large-scale disasters. The training has three
modules that are intended to be used either as standalone
training or in combination depending on the facility and audience
needs.
Materials related to the session
facilitated and sponsored by CDC’s Public Health Law
Program and the Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and
Emergency Response.
The California State Threat Assessment System is an all hazards
Information Sharing partnership of Federal, State and Local law
enforcement agencies throughout California. The System connects
Suspicious Activity Reporting and incidents that may have a
possible Terrorism or Homeland Security nexus with law
enforcement statewide through a network of interconnected
Regional Threat Assessment Centers (RTACs) in San Diego, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
These Regional Centers are directly connected to the FBI and the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and provide regional
analysis and assessment of events, including patterns and trends,
to deter, detect and prevent terrorism in California.
Additionally, the State Threat Assessment Center (STAC), also in
Sacramento, is a partnership of the California Highway Patrol and
the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, whose focus is
statewide analysis of incidents, trends and patterns to help
identify larger threats and protect key and critical
infrastructure.
Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) programs such as “If You See
Something, Say Something” are active across the country and help
communities deter crime, violent incidents, and in some cases
prevent terrorism. The idea is simple, but for first
responders/receivers there are particular activities to look for
depending on your sector.
The Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) recently released the new
online training module “Public
Health and Health Care Partners,” developed to teach workers
to recognize suspicious behavior associated with pre-incident
terrorist activities. The training also discusses civil rights,
privacy, and how and when to report suspicious activity. NSI also
offers a two-page resource,
Suspicious Activity Reporting Indicators and Behaviors.
This training module can easily be added to any in-house training
for new employees or yearly refresher training for established
personnel. The new training
module joins others disciplines such as public safety
telecommunications, fire/EMS, emergency management, maritime, and
more. Those completing the training successfully can print a
certificate.
All hospitals should know what suspicious activity is and how it
should be reported. All hospitals should also know which threat
assessment center they fall under and maintain contact
information.
