About the Summit

 

The purpose of the Disaster Mental Health Summit is to increase the capacity of county mental health agencies and private practitioners to respond to catastrophic natural disasters, pandemic disease outbreaks and acts of terrorism. The California Department of Mental Health (DMH) is committed to developing response and recovery concepts of operation that are fully implementable by public mental health agencies and the private practitioners they contract with or employ to assist them.

 

The Summit marks the beginning of a disaster mental health response and recovery infrastructure-building project that includes the development of core competencies, an all-hazards training program, a professional registry and the complete integration of mental health into the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and California’s Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS).

 

One of DMH’s goals is to institutionalize training. The development of disaster mental health core competencies will allow for the prioritization of training funds and pave the way for the creation of a disaster mental health training institute as a stand-alone organization or in partnership with the University of California and/or the California State University systems.

 

Another DMH goal is the creation of a “resources typing” system that will allow local public mental health agencies and California Master Mutual Aid Agreement partners to seek and receive mutual aid assistance specifically tailored to their needs. In order to accomplish this, DMH is partnering with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) to include mental health refinements as part of the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP).

 

DMH has also set exercises as one of its top priorities. No plan or training can truly be considered complete without being tested. The development and facilitation of regularly scheduled exercises will allow public agency mental health department disaster coordinators, and private practitioners who support them, opportunities to continue to strengthen their response and recovery skills. In order to accomplish this goal, DMH is partnering with the American Red Cross, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Public Health and the California Office of Homeland Security.

 

The Summit points the way forward and is a major part of DMH’s prescription for preparedness. Participants will come away with a greater understanding of response plans for pandemic influenza, new concepts in treating and prioritizing trauma, a seven-part just-in-time bio-terrorism training kit and a glimpse of new innovative methods of responding to large-scale emergencies and disastrous events.

 

REGISTRATION IS LIMITED – Preference will first be given to the employees of public mental health agencies and public health departments who are currently assigned emergency response or disaster recovery roles. Others desiring to register will be considered on a case-by-case basis.