Psychosocial Network (PN)

Strategic Function: To provide behavioral health services, crisis response, and psychological first aid to individuals, families and emergency responders in a disaster incident.

Why: During a disaster communities will need to have in place, a plan that addresses the psychosocial needs that will arise.

Who: Emergency planners, traditional behavioral health providers, non-profit organizations  and civic organizations that have been trained in crisis intervention and psychological first aid, can provide support.  The NM Crisis Support Team (CST) is available 24/7/365 through Santa Fe Dispatch – 505-827-9384.

When: Each community will decide through ongoing assessment, plan development, pre-incident education and exercises, the trigger(s) or threshold(s)  for the activation of the PN. 

Where: The psychosocial network plan is part of a local jurisdiction’s emergency operations plan. The available resources have been identified in the plan

How: Each community is unique. The planning and establishment of is determined by services offered in the local community.  A baseline assessment of the community’s existing resources is essential and emergency planners will integrate the existing behavioral services into the community’s psychosocial network plan.

• Psychological support is considered to be an extension of the personal health care of every individual and will be shared by all affected by the incident.
• The need for psychosocial support may be required for several months to a year following an incident and will largely depend upon individuals, communities, family members, and co-workers to support each other.
• The success of NM MEMS and the State’s response to the psychosocial needs of the community will rely, in part, on the public’s awareness of the incident, as well as  the public’s  level of individual emotional and physical preparedness.
• As part of ongoing emergency preparedness planning, is the responsibility of lead agencies of the State to provide to public and private available information regarding potential problems, as well as instruction related to emergency awareness and preparedness (i.e. personal and family coping strategies and the basic principles of psychological first aid). 
• The NM Human Services Department (HSD) is the State Mental Health Authority.  As such, they have the responsibility to negotiate with the federal government the state’s   eligibility  for FEMA’s crisis counseling funding.  HSD is also the lead agency for the Behavioral Health Collaborative which oversees mental health and substance abuse services throughout the state.  Local Collaboratives identify needs, help develop a range of resources and ensure the responsiveness and relevance of behavioral health services. 
• The full range of psychosocial needs during a disaster will be addressed by the Local Collaboratives. These needs could include psychological first-aid from neighbors and to the needs of those with behavioral health disorders.
• The specialized behavioral health training of health care workers will comprehensively address the concepts of disaster mental health and include the unique aspects of a prolonged public health emergencies as well as the appropriate clinical interventions to address both acute and long-term traumatic stress disorders related to catastrophic incidents that are prolonged and/or have high levels of mortality.
• Consideration must be given to the disruption in treatment for chronic behavioral health disorders among patients presenting during medical or patient surge, particularly the need to ensure availability of psychotropic medication and treatment for displaced community members (e.g. shelter residents, AOCA, and CON).

• What psychosocial services (behavioral health, crisis response, psychological first aid) are currently provided by your community?*
• What triage criteria are in place to process behavioral health emergencies?
• Does your community have a system for ensuring proper credentialing of mental health professionals and adjuncts to care for increased psychosocial demands during a widespread public health emergency?
• How would your community absorb local emergency volunteer groups, faith based organizations, community service organization and the well-intentioned public to meet the psychosocial needs of family, friends, neighbors and those at-risk individuals?
• What "just in time" training would be available for those individuals an organization named in question #4?  What are the triggers that would initiate this training?
• What type of community education is available to personal and family coping strategies and basic principles of psychological first aid?
  
• What are the Community triggers for receiving NM State eligibility in relation for FEMA Crisis Counseling Funds?
• What alternative plan is in place to address the disruption of treatment services and prescription dispensing of psychotropic medicines for the displaced long-term behavioral health patient?
  
  

 

 

A sample tool to identify existing psychosocial services:

 

 

 

 

	Types of Services Offered
Agency	Individual Support	Group Support	Number Crisis Counselor	Hot Line	Just In Time Training	Special Populations Served
Team Builders
Youth Shelters Family Services
Zia Behavioral Health
Catholic Charities
Pastoral Counseling Center
Crisis Response
Esperanza Shelter
Rape  Crisis

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