Supporting Psychosocial Response to Radiological Incidents :

The Role of Family Assistance Centers

Onora Lien, MAHealth Systems Response PlannerKing County Healthcare Coalition

Public Health – Seattle & King County

Overview

Overview of Family Assistance CentersPlanning recommendationsUnique aspects of radiological incidents

Family Assistance

Family Assistance is: Information and support

(mental health, spiritual care, human needs, crime victims assistance) provided to families/loved ones/survivors of the injured and deceased

Reunification of family members with their missing or deceased loved ones

Family Assistance Centers

Established during mass casualty or mass fatality incidents A centralized location where loved ones will gather to gain

information and assistance Provides a safe and secure reception place for family and

friends of victims Could have more virtual/telephonic component

Helps facilitate coordinated information-sharing between families and officials/response agencies (e.g. ME/C, LE, ARC)

Best practice in an emergency/disaster response Legislated in some incidents Differs from Disaster Assistance/Disaster Services Centers

FAC Activities

Information sharing on missing/deceased loved ones Coordination on missing persons, patient tracking, victim

identifications, other reunification efforts Briefings related to response and recovery efforts Information on identification processes Collecting antemortem information to assist with identification Notifications (about location or confirmed death) Call center

Mental health and spiritual care support Immediate human needs assistance

First aid, food, shelter

FAC Activities

Coordinating family tour of incident site After death support activities

Personal effects return, human remains release, death certificate or funeral support

Legal, financial, other social services

Supporting Behavioral Health

Those being served at FAC are population of concern for being at risk for developing psychiatric disorders or dysfunction post incident Traumatic loss Separation from loved one

Functions of FAC may serve to help mitigate some stressors post disaster Provides forum for timely information sharing and meeting

immediate needs Helps to facilitate reunification with loved ones Availability of mental health and spiritual care support

Important to incorporate robust triage and assessment capabilities as a part of FAC operations and strategically allocate available mental health and spiritual care resources

Initial Planning Considerations

Lead agency and response partners Core functions for FAC Protocol/process for coordinating missing/unaccounted for

persons reports Coordination with Law Enforcement Coordination with hospitals/patient tracking Coordination with ARC or other family reunification activities

Integration with behavioral health response activities Triage, assessment, referral and ongoing support

Protocol for collecting antemortem information/conducting family interviews

It takes a team…

Potential Planning Partners: Local Health Department Social/Human Services Mental Health Coroner/Medical Examiner Law Enforcement and/or FBI Hospitals/Healthcare Emergency Management Chaplains/Spiritual Care providers American Red Cross/Salvation

Army/voluntary agencies Social/Human Services Interpreters/Translators

Public Information Officers Office of Victims of Crime FEMA NDMS/DMORT Department of State NTSB Relevant private

sector/corporate partners

Challenges during Radiological Incidents

Nature of radiological incident heightens public concern and anxiety May add to psychological stress Information sharing challenges Heightened media interest Possible criminal nature of incident

Response, recovery and victim identification may be delayed Need for coordination with evacuation, decontamination,

screening activities How do you coordinate or integrate Family Assistance Center

operations with Community Reception Center activities?

Family Assistance During Disasters

Supporting victims’ families is a critical component of overall response It is essential to facilitating overall community resilience

and recovery Flexibility and adaptability is key!

“You can’t fix it, you can’t make it better, but you can provide one positive memory to carry with them out of this horrible experience.” – Kathryn Turman, Director of FBI Office of

Victim Assistance