Dear Sir/Madam,

Hello to all, and welcome to new DRN members who have signed up this year.  This newsletter comes out a few times a year to let members know about new disaster resources that are availabe, or in response to disaster events that have taken place around the country or further afield.  

In this newsletter we are very pleased to let you know about the new APS practice certificate in disaster support which was launched at the APS Conference in Hobart this year.

As summer approaches, the APS National Office is planning our APS disaster response should an extreme weather event or other disaster happen in the coming months. DRN members living around the country in areas prone to cyclones, floods or bushfires will be getting busy making their own personal disaster plans, and many are also prompting their workplaces to plan ahead for disasters, just in case an extreme weather event happens in their area.  See below for some useful resources for psychological preparedness and disaster planning, including resources for APS Branches should a disaster occur nearby.

Take care over summer,

Regards,

Dr Susie Burke
Public Interest, Environment and Disaster Response

The APS Learning Institute is pleased to announce a new online practice certificate in disaster support. 

This certificate comprises four online courses that focus on preparing for disasters and responding to the social and psychological needs of persons and communities affected by disasters. 

Course A: Disasters in context
Course B: Level 1 early intervention
Course C: Level 2 psychological strategies
Course D: Ethical and professional issues in disaster response

Courses can be selected and taken individually but Course A: Disasters in context is basic preparation for the three remaining courses.

http://www.psychology.org.au/APSinstitute/practice-certificate/.

The APS has recently published revised versions of two Ethical guidelines: Ethical guidelines on providing psychological services in response to disasters, and the Ethical guidelines on providing pro bono or voluntary psychological services. These were previously presented in a single guideline and have now been revised and updated as two distinct guidelines.

Online versions of these documents are available to APS DRN members. 

• Ethical guidelines on providing psychological services in response to disasters
• Ethical guidelines on providing pro bono or voluntary psychological services

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Enter your password – you can reset a forgotten password via the APS website.

Non APS members are able to purchase copies of these through the APS Shop

The APS made a submission to the Productivity Commissions Inquiry into natural disaster funding in June this year.  A draft report was released in September.  We were invited to present at a public hearing in October.  Susie Burke attended on behalf of the APS Disaster Reference Group, with the following message:

"The main issue I want to raise is the level of analysis that is used in this report to assess risks and develop solutions and direct funding. There’s a big emphasis on traditional disaster management approaches which focus on systems and structures; so for example, the mitigation approaches are almost exclusively on things like land use, building regulations, built infrastructure, insurance.  – big systems and structures. What is also incredibly important, however, is to have an individual level of analysis where you look at the person and his or her family who are being threatened by an extreme weather event, and develop measures of risk reduction aimed at changing people’s risk behaviour".

The APS has prepared a brochure on planning for disasters to help APS Branches think about how to respond if or when a disaster impacts their area. This brochure contains suggestions for activities immediately after a disaster, as well as in the following days, weeks and months. 

 

Being directly involved in any potentially life-threatening emergency situation can be genuinely terrifying. People often don’t have prior experience of being in natural disasters or knowledge of just how stressful this can be. When people are under severe stress they are not able to think as clearly as usual and this can affect decisions and reactions. These are normal, although not always helpful, responses to a possibly life-threatening situation.

Being psychologically prepared can assist people to think more clearly and reduce the risk of serious injury and loss of life or property.

There are three main steps to being psychologically prepared
1. Anticipate the anxiety and concerns that will arise (e.g. racing heart, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, headaches)
2. Identify uncomfortable or distressing thoughts and feelings that may cause further anxiety (e.g. I can’t cope, I’m so afraid, I don’t know what to do).
3. Manage responses so that the ability to cope remains as effective as possible (slow down your breathing, replace frightening thoughts with more helpful ones – relax, calm down).

APS Preparedness Resources

The Red Cross have a series of documents designed to help people better prepare, respond to and recover from emergencies.

• Emergency REDiPlan: Four steps to prepare your household
• (also for seniors, and for people with a disability).
• Bushfires - Preparing to leave early
• Get Ready!, children's activity book
• Household emergency plan, planning sheets
• Emergency contact cards for home
• Coping with hot weather
• Psychological preparedness for disasters booklet
• Protecting the irreplaceable information sheet

Click here to see these resources.

The Psychological First Aid guide developed by the APS and Australian Red Cross is available on the APS website. This guide is for people working in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. It provides an overview of best-practice in psychological first aid following disasters and traumatic events.

Copies of the booklet can be downloaded free, or you can purchase hard copies through the APS store.

Lennart Reifels, Lucio Naccarella, Grant Blashki, and Jane Pirkis

This paper reports on the results of examining the capacity of the disaster mental health workforce in Victoria, Australia, to provide the three evidence-supported intervention types of psychological first aid, skills for psychological recovery, and intensive mental health treatments. Their study highlighted significant gaps in the disaster mental health capacity of Victorian providers, with only 32–42% able to deliver current best practice interventions. Key predictors of workforce capacity common and unique to interventions were highlighted. They concluded that key strategies to raise Victoria’s disaster mental health workforce capacity should focus on targeted multilevel training in best practice interventions, and the creation of practice opportunities.

We are very pleased to congratulate APS member Dr Rob Gordon for being made a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society this year, in recognition of his decades of work in disaster mental health, among other things.  An APS member since 1974, Rob is one of the leading authorities and practitioners in the field of disaster recovery in Australia, and an acknowledged leader in the field internationally. Rob also has a long-standing expertise in group psychotherapy, and for decades has run groups with diverse client groups, as well as providing innumerable hours of training and supervision to other professionals.

DRN members who are interested in the links between disasters and climate change, are welcome to register their interest here to receive regular newsletters from the Public Interest Team about climate change, psychology and health.

https://confirmsubscription.com/h/r/5266FE38A0D5979F

 

The Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma Loss and Grief Network (ACATLGN) has several new resources that people might find helpful. 

• Effects of child abuse and neglect for adult survivors
• Children's Grief Education Association
• National Alliance for Grieving Children
• Complexity in kinship care
• Support for students exposed to trauma: The SSET program

 

Resilience is a new newsletter from the Australian Red Cross Emergency Services team. This publication provides information on initiatives in the sector, and highlights useful Red Cross resources

Click here to read the 3rd Resilience Newsletter.

To subscribe to the digital version - resiliencenewsletter@redcross.org.au

 

Building Community Resilience for Children and Families is a guidebook produced by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network in America that provides information about building community resilience, helping communities improve their capacity to respond effectively to natural or man-made disasters or acts of terrorism. To be most effective, community plans must address the emotional well-being of residents, including children. Putting strategies in place before an incident occurs enhances the community’s ability to improve its outcomes after an event.

Click here to see the guidebook.

The Minnow is a moving and powerful coming-of-age story with a whimsical element that belies the heartbreaking truth of grief and loss.

Tom is a character you will never forget.  She survives a devastating flood that claimed the lives of her sister and parents. Now she lives with Bill in his old shed by the lake...