1. Supporting Psychosocial Response to Radiological Incidents : The Role of Family Assistance Centers Onora Lien, MA Health Systems Response Planner King County Healthcare Coalition Public Health – Seattle & King County

2. Overview  Overview of Family Assistance Centers  Planning recommendations  Unique aspects of radiological incidents

3. Family Assistance  Family Assistance is:  Information and support (mental health, spiritual care, human needs, crime victims assistance) provided to families/loved ones/survivors of the injured and deceased  Reunification of family members with their missing or deceased loved ones

4. Family Assistance Centers  Established during mass casualty or mass fatality incidents  A centralized location where loved ones will gather to gain information and assistance  Provides a safe and secure reception place for family and friends of victims  Could have more virtual/telephonic component  Helps facilitate coordinated information-sharing between families and officials/response agencies (e.g. ME/C, LE, ARC)  Best practice in an emergency/disaster response  Legislated in some incidents  Differs from Disaster Assistance/Disaster Services Centers

5. FAC Activities  Information sharing on missing/deceased loved ones  Coordination on missing persons, patient tracking, victim identifications, other reunification efforts  Briefings related to response and recovery efforts  Information on identification processes  Collecting antemortem information to assist with identification  Notifications (about location or confirmed death)  Call center  Mental health and spiritual care support  Immediate human needs assistance  First aid, food, shelter

6. FAC Activities  Coordinating family tour of incident site  After death support activities  Personal effects return, human remains release, death certificate or funeral support  Legal, financial, other social services

7. Supporting Behavioral Health  Those being served at FAC are population of concern for being at risk for developing psychiatric disorders or dysfunction post incident  Traumatic loss  Separation from loved one  Functions of FAC may serve to help mitigate some stressors post disaster  Provides forum for timely information sharing and meeting immediate needs  Helps to facilitate reunification with loved ones  Availability of mental health and spiritual care support  Important to incorporate robust triage and assessment capabilities as a part of FAC operations and strategically allocate available mental health and spiritual care resources

8. Initial Planning Considerations  Lead agency and response partners  Core functions for FAC  Protocol/process for coordinating missing/unaccounted for persons reports  Coordination with Law Enforcement  Coordination with hospitals/patient tracking  Coordination with ARC or other family reunification activities  Integration with behavioral health response activities  Triage, assessment, referral and ongoing support  Protocol for collecting antemortem information/conducting family interviews

9. It takes a team… Potential Planning Partners:  Local Health Department  Social/Human Services  Mental Health  Coroner/Medical Examiner  Law Enforcement and/or FBI  Hospitals/Healthcare  Emergency Management  Chaplains/Spiritual Care providers  American Red Cross/Salvation Army/voluntary agencies  Social/Human Services  Interpreters/Translators  Public Information Officers  Office of Victims of Crime  FEMA  NDMS/DMORT  Department of State  NTSB  Relevant private sector/corporate partners

10. Challenges during Radiological Incidents  Nature of radiological incident heightens public concern and anxiety  May add to psychological stress  Information sharing challenges  Heightened media interest  Possible criminal nature of incident  Response, recovery and victim identification may be delayed  Need for coordination with evacuation, decontamination, screening activities  How do you coordinate or integrate Family Assistance Center operations with Community Reception Center activities?

11. Family Assistance During Disasters  Supporting victims’ families is a critical component of overall response  It is essential to facilitating overall community resilience and recovery  Flexibility and adaptability is key! “You can’t fix it, you can’t make it better, but you can provide one positive memory to carry with them out of this horrible experience.” – Kathryn Turman, Director of FBI Office of Victim Assistance