Volunteers needed to offer mental health first aid in disasters

Butler County Health Department has partnered with Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health to train first responders in the aftermath of a disaster, said health department administrator Emily Goodin.

To do this, they are presenting a two-year training course of psychological first aid to those in contact with older adults impacted by disasters such as the ongoing pandemic.

The course targets individuals from public and behavioral health organizations, emergency management groups and persons from faith-based organizations such as pastors and church staff interested in assisting those in need of psychological first aid. The course, according to a release from the health department, is a train-the-trainer format.

“We want to teach key personnel so they can go out and present it to their congregations and organizations,” said Goodin.

Hosting the event is Fellowship General Baptist Church.

“We have seen through research and personal experience that older adults prefer to talk to pastors and clergy when something bad happens,” said Goodin.

Those who attend must be able to commit to a full day of classwork once a quarter for two years. The classes will begin at 9 a.m. and end for the day at 4 p.m.. There will be breaks for snacks and lunch provided by Butler County Health Department and Butler County Emergency Management.

The first of the eight meetings in the course will take place on Tuesday, March 22, at Fellowship General Baptist on 3581 N. Westwood Blvd. The final meeting will take place in October of 2023.

Two instructors will be flying in from Johns Hopkins to present the training.

One the instructors is associate professor Dr. Daniel Barnett, a specialist in public health preparedness, emergency response and educational training. He has papers published in medical journals such as the American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Disaster Medicine.

Dr. George S. Everly will also be presenting. Everly researches disaster mental health, resilience and crisis intervention. He is the author of several books, including Psychological First Aid: The Johns Hopkins Model.

The training course is funded by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and there is no cost to the attendees other than the time commitment. All the materials needed for the course will be provided.

Qualified applicants interested in the training can contact Emily Goodin of Butler County Health Department by phone at 573-785-8478.