Responder Preparedness: Psychological First Aid Emergency response takes its physical and mental toll on responders. This program focuses on psychological first aid (PFA) during and after deployment.  A pre-recorded, no cost, program is available now.        RATINGS: [EC] [SP] [CS] [CM] [EM] [MD]  Program Description Emergency responders are our first line of defense. Emergency responders - from first responders to those who support them, such as 911, the Red Cross, US Public Health Service, CERT and others - must personally plan to protect themselves, and their loved ones, while they are protecting the rest of us. This LEAPS.TV series, Responder Preparedness, moderated by Judith Weshinskey-Price, manager of Amarillo Emergency Communications, will cover topics of particular interest to first responders and the managers and policy makers who must assure responder safety in an emergency. This episode, Responder Preparedness: Psychological First Aid, will provide first responders and their management with a better understanding of Psychological First Aid (PFA) and how this supportive intervention can be instrumental in identifying and addressing the range of psychological and other reactions experienced by disaster responders. This program will provide information on how to recognize psychological stress in responders both in the field and upon their return from duty, an overview of PFA and how to utilize this intervention to support the recovery of first responders, and how to identify individuals who may benefit from additional psychological assistance. This program is pre-recorded but viewers are able to ask their questions and have them answered by our experts via the Responder Preparedness Q&A Forum. [Recommend this LEAPS.TV program to a colleague.] Guest Bios Jack Herrmann, MSEd., NCC, LMHC, Sr. Advisor, Public Health Preparedness National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Jack Herrmann, M.S.ED., NCC, LMHC is the senior advisor for public health preparedness at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), an association that represents approximately 3,000 local public health departments across the country. In this role, Jack manages NACCHO's preparedness portfolio aimed at enhancing and strengthening the preparedness and response capacity of local health departments. He also serves as NACCHO's chief preparedness liaison to local, state, and federal partner agencies. Prior to NACCHO, Jack was assistant professor of Psychiatry and director of the Program in Disaster Mental Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry. Over his 17 years with the University, Jack brought a wealth of experience to the fields of disaster mental health, suicide prevention, and employee assistance program services. As the former director of Strong EAP, Jack specialized in developing critical response teams for local police, fire, and healthcare organizations. He has also developed disaster mental health training curricula for behavioral health and spiritual care response teams throughout New York, Maine, Hawaii, Washington and other communities across the United States. As a long time volunteer with the American Red Cross, Jack has responded to numerous national disaster relief operations including the Northridge California Earthquake, the explosion of TWA Flight 800, and a variety of hurricanes and floods. He was assigned as the mental health coordinator for the Family Assistance Center in New York City immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and also assisted the New York City Mayor's Office in coordinating the first and second year anniversaries of that event. In 2005, he was deployed as the Client Services Administrator for the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita relief operations (Louisiana), coordinating the health, mental health, and client casework services for the first month following that storm. In 2006, Jack was assigned as the Mental Health Manager following the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Kentucky. His commitment to disaster mental health has been recognized nationally with many awards including the 2001 National Disaster Services Award, the most prestigious disaster volunteer award bestowed by the National American Red Cross. He also serves on many disaster preparedness committees and advisory councils and was appointed to the National Biodefense Science Board's Disaster Mental Health subcommittee by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary in 2008. Jack earned a master's degree in education from the University of Rochester, is certified by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and is a licensed mental health counselor in the State of New York. Alicia Welch, Captain II Los Angeles Fire Department Alicia Leane Welch, Distinguished Alumni Fellow, U.S Department of Homeland Security Center for Homeland Defense and Security has more than 19 years of operational service in the Los Angeles Fire Department and extensive experience working on special projects and program development. On August 4, 2008, Ms. Welch was promoted to Captain II and was assigned to the newly formed Los Angeles/Long Beach Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), Critical Incident Planning and Training Alliance (known as the Alliance). In this assignment she has been involved in research of national best practices and federal guidance pertaining to large-scale critical incident emergency preparedness. Captain Welch has developed her operational and administrative knowledge by working through the ranks as a Firefighter, Battalion Staff Assistant, Fire Inspector, and Captain I and II. She has worked in active assignments throughout the City including Mid-City, Korea Town, South Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Pacoima, Fairfax District, the San Fernando Valley, and Downtown Los Angeles. Her most recent assignment allowed her to maximize her skills, abilities, and talents while she worked as part of a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary, and multi-jurisdictional regional planning task force. In September 2005, Captain Welch responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as part of the Los Angeles Fire Department's Critical Incident Stress Management Team. There she was charged with providing peer support to impacted firefighters in the region. Since the deployment to the hurricanes, Captain Welch has become a subject mater expert and instructor in Psychological First Aid and critical incident debriefings. Captain Welch is a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department's Significant Incident Investigation Team, were she has developed her technical writing, policy development, and investigation skills. She has had the unfortunate opportunity to conduct post incident firefighter fatality investigations. Captain Welch was selected to participate in the development of the Los Angeles Fire Department Leadership Academy. As a 2007 graduate from the highly acclaimed Los Angeles Police Department West Point Leadership Academy, she enhanced her leadership, management, and supervisory skill-sets. She is also a member of the instructor cadre for the LAFD Leadership Academy. Alicia earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Recreation Management from California State University, Long Beach in 1990. She also earned a Master of Science Degree in Homeland Security/National Studies from the esteemed Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 2006. In summer 2009, the Department of Homeland Security / FEMA in partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School / Center for Homeland Defense and Security announced Captain Welch as one of three distinguished fellows. Ms. Welch currently lives in Arlington, Virginia and is assigned to the National Preparedness Directorate at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, DC. She is dedicating her year-long assignment to learning about community and employee preparedness and is developing a pilot program for the Los Angeles Fire Department, which will then shared to other public safety organizations nationwide. Moderator Bio Judith Weshinskey-Price, Manager Amarillo Emergency Communications Judith Weshinskey-Price is Emergency Communication Center Manager with the City of Amarillo. Her initial duties include the consolidation of three separate Public Safety Access Points (PSAPs/dispatch centers) into the new Amarillo Emergency Communication Center. Prior to coming to the City of Amarillo Ms. Weshinskey-Price spent five years as a shift supervisor with Brown County Public Safety Communications in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a consolidated center that acted as the PSAP for the county and dispatched almost all of the area response agencies including police, fire, and EMS. Ms. Price also spent several years as a dispatcher and supervisor with the Victoria (TX) Police Department. She is active in the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) having served on the Member and Chapter Services Committees and participated as a subject matter expert with the Member Assistance Advisory Program. Ms. Weshinskey-Price holds a bachelor's degree in Emergency Management from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and has earned her Registered Public-Safety Leader certification through APCO. She has been active in almost all aspects of emergency communications including training, quality assurance, policy development, instructing, dispatching, and call taking. Advisors   > Captain Robert J. Tosatto, Program Advisor         Director, Medical Reserve Corps, US Public Health Service   > Gary Niki, Series Advisor         Senior Associate, Safety & Security, WMD/Terrorism Program, American Red Cross National Headquarters Disaster Services   > Rick Cox, Program Advisor         CERT Member, Trainer, Author, Training Institute for Public Safety (911 TIPS) Background/Preparatory Reading The Psychological First Aid Field Operation Guide for Medical Reserve Corps was developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and adapted as a training tool for Medical Reserve Corps volunteers. It is an important resource for volunteers and first responders and provides key information on how to address and respond to the psychological consequences of disaster. One of our guests on this program, Jack Herrmann, was a collaborating author of this guide and will be discussing a number of the topics contained in this indispensible and unique 174 page reference work. Contents include an in-depth description of Psychological First Aid (PFA) followed by information on the essential elements of PFA and how to deliver it in the early aftermath of a disaster or other public health emergency. Even though reading this document before and/or after - or simply downloading it to provide background reference materials for the LEAPS.TV Responder Preparedness: Psychological First Aid program is not mandatory it is strongly recommended in order to get the most out of this program. http://leaps.tv/archive/MRC_PsychologicalFirstAid_04-02-08.pdf Sponsored by This program is being made available at no charge to the law enforcement and public safety community thanks to the generous support of The Law Enforcement And Public Safety Channel.