Team Requirements for
Member Teams in Michigan
As reported in previous ‘Connections’ issues Michigan has a CISM Confidentiality Law (SB444) for first responders. Sec. 20981 (d) of SB444 states: “Critical incident stress management team” or “CISM team” means an organized community or local crisis response team that is a member of the Michigan Crisis Response Association Network. Thus, CISM teams must be registered with the MCRA in order to benefit from SB444’s privileged communication protection for first responders receiving CISM services, and for CISM teams providing CISM services to those responders.
The MCRA is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring CISM teams registered with the MCRA meet certain standards. In order to ensure the integrity of CISM teams registered with the MCRA, and the legal obligations of SB444 are being met, MCRA has established Minimum Requirements for CISM teams registered with the MCRA. The MCRA has identified Best Practices and Beyond Best Practices for those teams that want to establish an increased standard of excellence!
Beyond meeting requirements set in the Privileged Communication law there are benefits of being registered with MCRA. These include access to online resources, eligibility to have representation on the MCRA board and, of course – confidentiality coverage provided under the state statute.
Mission Trip To Puerto Rico 2018:
Empowering Mental Health Resiliency
Submitted by Harvey Burnett
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the U.S territory of Puerto Rico with an estimated population of over 3 million people. At the time of its impact, Maria was classified as a Category 5 hurricane, with wind speeds up to 175 mph. Unfortunately, Hurricane Maria delivered a devastating blow to the island. A recent study estimates the death toll to be around 4,645 compared to the official reported number of 64 deaths from FEMA (Kishore et al., 2018). Damage was estimated at over $91 million dollars, over 200,000 Puerto Ricans left the island for the mainland, and several months after Maria, over 50% of the island still did not have electrical power restored. Furthermore, Puerto Rico experienced a significant increase in the number of completed suicides and in the use of the government suicide hotline.
In response to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a team of 20 Andrews University faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and alumni traveled to Puerto Rico from March 15-25, 2018, and provided mental health education training to over 1,000 people in local churches and communities across the island. This also included face-to-face interactions with government officials, mental health professionals, first responders and emergency management. In a statement to Focus magazine, Dr. Harvey Burnett (the trip clinical and disaster response supervisor) summarized the need and how Andrews University responded to it, “Everyone was impacted, it just depends on proximity and where you’re at. Our job was more about education and normalizing their reactions, empowering them and their resilience” (p. 12).
For many Hispanics, there is a stigma associated with mental health, thus the theme of the mission trip was “Acepta, Habla, y Sana” or “Accept, Talk and Heal.” Through partnerships with Antillean Adventist University and the Puerto Rican Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, the 11-day disaster mental health response mission trip focused on providing culturally-specific approaches to crisis intervention and psychoeducation for adults and children. Our team provided workshops on fostering psychological and emergency preparedness resilience, normalizing common reactions to critical incident like Maria, addictions after disaster events, depression, anxiety, suicide, and understanding children and their emotions after experiencing a traumatic event. Dr. Burnett also provided training on PTSD and Critical Incident Stress to a group of volunteers through Puerto Rico’s VOAD, which was attended by the Puerto Rico FEMA volunteer coordinator. Furthermore, spiritual support was also provided, which included the mission trip coordinator (Dr. Melissa Ponce-Rhodas) and Dr. Burnett delivering sermons; two of which were televised and aired on the radio. Dr. Ponce-Rhodas and Dr. Burnett also were also interviewed on radio about the purpose of the trip and the team’s experiences.
The most touching part of the trip was listening to the many stories that people shared about their traumatic experiences – whether it be near death experiences, loss of family members and friends, the loss of property and employment, frustration with the official government response effort, acts of how people helped each other, or fear of the upcoming hurricane season. One teacher shared that prior to the hurricane, she had strong belief in the return of Jesus Christ hope (Second Advent) message. However, during the hurricane, all she could think about was survival and after it was over, she began to feel guilty – believing that she had betrayed her faith. Another community member shared that immediately after the hurricane, the young people were full of adrenaline and went out to help as many people as they could without thought of the risk to themselves. She went on to share that when they could not help anyone else, they were still eager and began to engage in helping behaviors that put them at increased risk for harm. Her question to us was what could be done to support their young people who want to help but also to keep them safe and not take unnecessary risk?
Dr. Burnett and four other team members (self-designated as the “A-Team) went to Isla de Vieques to provide mental health services to the only mission school on the island sponsored by the Adventist Church. Vieques was severely impacted by the hurricane based on its location and Maria’s trajectory. The mission school was damaged to the point where it could not be used and the entire 8th grade was gone due to parents leaving the island as a result of job loss from the dramatic decline in tourism. Thus, a decision was being considered to close the school. However, the school’s parents and community refused to let this happened and came together to repair the school’s church and some portions of the school so that the school could remain open for the remaining 40 students who were grades K-7th.
Finally, while serving the mission school students and teachers on Vieques, our team asked Pastor Joshua (the school superintendent and ministerial leader) what was it that they needed the most, such as more monetary donations? His answer shocked and humbled us at the same time. Pastor Joshua stated that monetary donations are always welcome; however, what is needed the most are people with specific technical skills (i.e., electricians, building construction workers, plumbers, etc.) to help rebuild the damaged homes, schools and other property as a result of the hurricane. “This is what is lacking and this is what is needed.” After his response, I know for me that I felt humbled because I was guilty of having a “mainland” mindset of donate enough money and it will be alright.
The trip was co-sponsored by the Andrews University Department of Behavioral Sciences and the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. Funds for the trip were also raised through various donations and the team’s GoFundMe account on their Facebook page.
References
Andrews University Magazine (2018). Mission trip to Puerto Rico: Witnessing resiliency and empowering mental health, Focus, 45(2), 12.
Kishore, N., Marques, D., Mahmud, A., Kiang, M., Rodriquez, I., Fuller, A., Ebner, P., Sorensen,C., Racy, F., Lemery, J., Maas, L., Leaning, J., Irizarry, R., Balsari, S., Buckee, C. (2018). Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, The New England Journal of Medicine, 379, 162-170.
Author Note
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Harvey Burnett, Behavioral Sciences Department, Andrews University, 8488 E. Campus Circle Drive, Berrien Springs, MI 49104. E-mail: harveyb@andrews.edu
ICISF World Congress Conference
May 19-24, 2019
Baltimore, Maryland
World Congress takes place every 2 years. Here’s what ICISF has to say about the 2019 World Congress:
“Ask past World Congress participants WHY they keep coming back, and there would be a couple common themes among their answers. Most would probably say they come for the variety of presentations on disasters, lessons learned, research, etc.
But they would also be just as likely to say they return for the incredible sense of community they feel when they are amongst hundreds of others who do the same type of work and speak the same “language”.
Crisis Intervention enthusiasts from around the world gather to network and meet leaders in the field as well as fellow professionals from a wide range of professions, practice settings, and experience levels.
The opportunity to make personal connections, learn from one another and be among friends often renews their commitment to the selfless work they do, and they return to their communities, agencies, and jobs with fresh ideas, reinvigorated.
If you haven’t experienced a World Congress, we hope you’ll give it a try and to our friends who have attended- welcome back!”
About World Congress
This year’s theme represents the challenges of our busy lives in the 21st century. We value and respect the time and energy that you invest in your personal and professional development and will help you in finding a balance by giving you the opportunity to enhance your knowledge of Crisis, Stress, and Human Resilience among fellow professionals. Here’s what you can expect at the 15th World Congress: Explore the spectrum of knowledge.
Whether beginning your exploration of the field of crisis intervention or already actively involved, a wealth of expertise, current resources, and take-away tools will be available for you to utilize in your own community;
Embrace the caring vibe through engaging discussions on emerging issues and recent developments within the field of crisis intervention. We will offer inspirational and dynamic speakers that share your passion and dedication;
Expand your collaboration and connections by building relationships with others in your profession, practice setting, and/or geographic area. Bring this home to your own community and expand your local reach.
Topics covered include: Research/innovations Emergency Services/Public Safety Military/Veterans Corporate/Industry Community Crisis Care Disaster Response Schools, Families, and Children Healthcare Settings Specialty Populations Faith-Based Applications Team Development and Care
The 15th World Congress will be held at: Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, 700 Alicanna Street, Baltimore, MD.
http://icisfworldcongress.org/CFP
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