This is one of the best things that could happen right now. It's what I've been trying to do for years but I'm just like everyone else. I have very little power and I'm not rich, so people with the power to do things that need to be done never listen to me.
With all the training I've done over the years I've often wondered why crisis intervention programs didn't include veterans already here in crisis. I supposed that it was simply a matter of numbers instead of need. Considering responders are trained to rush in after a localized crisis, like hurricanes, it only makes sense that they do the same for the over 1.7 million veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Even thinking about those numbers it is vital to also include veterans we already have trying to heal from trauma along with the families involved. Each program I've taken has touched on PTSD but since these programs are designed to address the traumatic event head on, the result of long term conditions like PTSD were considered pretty much avoided. After all that's the intent of these programs.
Washington State apparently has decided that it's time for the mobilization of teams to respond to veterans in crisis with their unique traumatic events. It is widely known that the sooner help begins the less of a mental health toll these veterans will pay. This is a good thing!
Contact: David Weston, 360-902-0782, westodb@dshs.wa.gov
Contact: David L. Reed, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-0793, reeddl@dshs.wa.gov
Contact: Tom Schumacher, 360-725-2226, tom@dva.wa.gov
July 07, 2009
DSHS, WDVA schedule training workshops to help first responders deal with troubled veterans
TACOMA -- Two state departments are working together to train mental health workers, police, drug treatment counselors, tribal representatives and other community service personnel in how they can better serve troubled veterans returning to the United States after traumatic service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mental health and crisis experts with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Social and Health Services are partnering with community organizations to sponsor a series of trainings this summer.
"The Veterans Collaboration Group," as they have dubbed themselves, will hold trainings on July 9 in Tacoma and July 30 in Yakima. An earlier session was held in Bellingham in June.
Partner agencies include WDVA, the DSHS divisions that coordinate substance abuse treatment and mental health services, Washington Association of Designated Mental Health Professionals and the federal Veterans Administration as well as local groups.
Additional information about the remaining two sessions is available by contacting David L. Reed, a mental health worker in the Health and Recovery Services Administration of DSHS, or Tom Schumacher, PTSD Program Director with WDVA.
As communities welcome veterans' home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important that providers and first responders are prepared to serve their special needs, particularly if the veteran is struggling with readjustment issues related to war trauma or deployment.
"We are interested in helping crisis workers and police know how to identify a veteran with war exposure and symptoms, and to help these professionals respond effectively," said Schumacher. "Many crises can be quickly resolved when local professionals can help define what is needed and offer services locally. These regional workshops are all about education, creating empathy for the experiences of warriors, understanding their significant homecoming challenges, and establishing networks that work for the benefit of the veteran, their family, and the community."
Reed said the workshops were developed in response to the serious challenges that face local communities as soldiers still dealing with war trauma return from the battlefield after prolonged and repeated deployments.
The workshops focus on the basics – what works and what doesn't – and instructors encourage participants to look ahead at the kind of crisis situations in which they may face a returning soldier losing control or posing a threat.
"The workshops provide information about the soldiers' needs," Reed said, "and they are upfront about the challenges these veterans may be dealing with at that point. We teach specific skills that you need to de-escalate this kind of crisis."
Other topics in the curriculum include veteran and military cultures, war trauma, traumatic brain injury, war-related post traumatic stress disorder and combat-related mental illness and stigma.
Collaboration Group training
July 9, Tacoma
July 30, Yakima
For additional details, e-mail David Reed at reeddl@dshs.wa.gov
FOR ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND, INFORMATION:
Heidi Audette, Communications Director, Department of Veterans Affairs, 360-725-2154.
Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, 360-725-1915 (Pager: 360-971-4067).
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/mediareleases/2009/pr09109.shtml
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