Brian W Flynn

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences | USUHS · Department of Psychiatry

We conducted a systematic review of the medical, nursing, forensic, and social science literature describing events and processes associated with what happens after a traumatic death in the socio-cultural context of largely Western and high-income societies. These include death notification, why survivors choose to view or not view the body, forens...

Exposure to war causes a wide range of harmful mental health effects. Those working with refugees and people directly impacted in Ukraine can protect mental health by using the following evidence-based actions and other resources. Resources include: (1) Rapid Psychological First Aid: Help for You, Family, and Friends (2) Helping Others Calm an Ac...

Research on disaster behavioral health presents significant methodological challenges. Challenges are even more complex for research on mass violence events that involve military members, families, and communities, due to the cultural and logistical considerations of working with this population. The current article aims to inform and educate on th...

COVID-19 is a unique disaster, which has placed extreme stress on Healthcare Workers (HCWs) and the systems in which they work. Eradicating the pandemic requires sustainment of the healthcare workforce through actions that mitigate stress, promote resilience, and enhance performance. A major barrier is the lack of organizational practices and proce...

While this issue of The Exchange focuses on acute and chronic stressors, identifying at-risk employees, and fostering resilience, it is important to understand these are somewhat artificial distinctions; they are actually interrelated concepts. Though it is helpful to segment them for the purposes of highlighting key factors in each, it is importan...

Human Remains, Grief, and Posttraumatic Stress in Bereaved Family Members Fourteen Years after September 11, 2001, a forthcoming manuscript in the Journal of Traumatic Stress describes the mental health effects on 9/11-bereaved family members after being notified (often multiple times) that remains of their loved ones were identified. Although retu...

Infectious disease outbreaks, such as the novel Coronavirus (nCoV) increase fear and uncertainty. Knowing how to care for yourself and your family can reduce distress and allow people to function more effectively. These educational fact sheets provide information and recommendations for healthcare personnel, families, businesses, and communities on...

This chapter describes the benefits for both emergency management (EM) and disaster mental health (DMH) of learning more about each other’s fields. DMH professionals are encouraged to learn about the Federal Response Plan and the National Incident Management System. Emergency managers are encouraged to learn more about DMH and community-based psych...

Historically, behavioral health (BH) professionals have had limited involvement with emergency managers in the crisis communications arena; especially on-site in the immediate response phase. Enhanced and expanded ways in which BH professionals can assist emergency managers are presented. Several strategies to integration are described. These inclu...

From an emergency management (EM) perspective, this chapter discusses the integration of disaster behavioral health (DBH) services and EM. It describes the challenges posed by the limited history of the EM profession and the reluctance to address any non-tangible needs of either victims or service providers. The chapter conveys one of the authors’...

The chapter discusses the importance and benefits of integrating disaster behavioral health into the emergency operations centers (EOC) which are lead and organized by emergency managers. The nature of, and special stresses existing in, EOCs and emergency communications centers are discussed. Options for understanding and mitigating these stressors...

The authors use disaster experiences that range from quite localized incidents to catastrophes around the world to illustrate how integration can work on many levels. From the disaster behavioral health (DBH) perspective, the response draws upon a highly variable collection of persons (primarily volunteers) whose makeup varies by state and jurisdic...

Integrating Emergency Management and Disaster Behavioral Health identifies the most critical areas of integration between the profession of emergency management and the specialty of disaster behavioral health, providing perspectives from both of these critical areas, and also including very practical advice and examples on how to address key topics...

This chapter captures selected key concepts and suggestions from the entire book and presents those as factors that can be used to enhance the probability of sustaining integration when it is established. Also discussed are factors that endanger integration including changes in leadership, authorities, political landscapes, evidence and practice, v...

When earthquake swarms catch public attention, seismologists face a difficult communication challenge. On the one hand, they do not want to create unnecessary anxiety, because most swarms eventually die off, but at the same time, they know that these events could also be foreshocks to a larger, possibly damaging, earthquake. What then should a seis...

In 2014 and 2015, two telephone surveys were conducted by the Insurance Bureau of Canada to evaluate the perception of earthquake hazard and risk in the province of Quebec, Canada. An additional survey evaluated the uptake of earthquake insurance in Quebec and in British Columbia. The surveys brought to light some sobering aspects regarding the per...

Comprehensive preparation enhances the effectiveness and coordination of emergency and disaster response for all stakeholders impacted by these events. Workplace planning and preparation must consider unique factors when developing response plans for personnel impacted by a wide range of emergencies, including natural and human-made disasters. A th...

The behavioral choices people make in the wake of a disaster, such as staying in place, evacuating, seeking or not seeking medical care, and searching for loved ones have very real life and death implications. Effective mental health disaster response requires timely and accurate information for victims, first responders, leaders, family members an...

Disaster events cause a range of mental and physical health effects. Nuclear exposures result in unique psychological responses by affected individuals and communities. Planning, preparation, response, and recovery are enhanced by a focus on population health management, integration of relevant community and cultural variables, and effective use of...

makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in...

The phenomenon of mass shootings has emerged over the past 50 years. A high proportion of rampage shootings have occurred in the United States, and secondarily, in European nations with otherwise low firearm homicide rates; yet, paradoxically, shooting massacres are not prominent in the Latin American nations with the highest firearm homicide rates...

Disaster behavioral health is increasingly regarded as a central part of disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Legal and ethical issues have received relatively little attention and have sparked divergent opinions. Optimally, understanding and applying legal and ethical considerations requires an understanding of the evolution of the disast...

Book Essays and Reviews- Why in the world would a journal like Psychiatry be publishing a review of a book about a handgun? Because this book is only marginally and nominally about a gun. Beneath the surface, this book is a stunning illustration of issues and factors of great interest to social and behavioral science as well as public policy. Glock...

In the immediate and early aftermath of a geological disaster, one major goal of communications by geoscientists should be to provide information that will help those impacted make safe and healthy behavioral choices. This requires moving from answers geared exclusively to the domain of physical science and embracing the art and science of risk and...

Mental health professionals who provide emergency psychosocial assistance in the immediate aftermath of disasters do so in the midst of crisis and chaos. Common roles undertaken by disaster mental health professionals include treating existing conditions of disaster survivors and providing psychosocial support to front line responders and those acu...

Studies have shown that psychological hardiness is an important stress resilience resource for individuals. The 15-items Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS-15) is a short, reliable and valid self-report instrument to measure hardiness that is not available in Italian. The present study was undertaken to create an Italian version of the DRS-15, and...

The close interplay between mental health and physical health makes it critical to integrate mental and behavioral health considerations into all aspects of public health and medical disaster management. Therefore, the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB) convened the Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee to assess the progress of the US Departme...

In substantial numbers of affected populations, disasters adversely affect well-being and influence the development of emotional problems and dysfunctional behaviors. Nowhere is the integration of mental and behavioral health into broader public health and medical preparedness and response activities more crucial than in disasters such as the 2009-...

Despite the prevalence of homelessness, this population has rarely been included in disaster and terrorism planning. To better understand the mental health needs of the homeless during a terrorist event and to highlight the need to address methodological limitations in research in this area, we examined responses to the October 2002 Washington, DC,...

This article discusses the organization and delivery of psychosocial response to terrorism within the United States. The context is the state of a relatively young science and practice evolving in a relatively young nation. Specifically, the article describes the structure of preparedness and response at various levels of government and among group...

Most authorities agree that mass disasters leave in their wake a need for some form of acute mental health services. However, a review of current literature on crisis intervention and disaster mental health reveals differing points of view on the methods that should be employed (Raphael, 1986; NIMH, 2002). Nevertheless, there appears to be virtual...

News from throughout the world illustrates how disasters are impacting people during their commute and at the workplace. Now more than ever employers must ensure that personnel have the tools to deal with the impacts of these critical events. This article outlines how organizations can build psychological infrastructure in their corporate culture t...

Based on past episodes, there will be psychological sequelae to chemical, biological, and radiological attacks. Some of the psychological morbidity should be able to be ameliorated through planning and appropriate early intervention. Key components of early intervention are illustrated following a hypothetical scenario of a bomb and anthrax threat...

In terms of psychosocial interventions, years of experience in a wide variety of extraordinary events have demonstrated a number of common factors that characterize what happens to people and how they respond to interventions and services. 24 Few who experience a disaster are unaffected by it, and most psychological responses can, and should, be vi...

Despite limited resources, emergency medical settings will be called upon to play many roles in the context of disasters and terrorist attacks that are related to preparedness, surveillance, mental health services delivery, and staff care. Such settings are a central capture site for those individuals likely to be at highest risk for developing men...

The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured hundreds more. Children were a major focus of concern in the mental health response. Most services for them were delivered in the Oklahoma City Public Schools where approximately 40,000 students were enrolled at the time of the explosion. Middle and high school stu...

How did the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differ from prior disasters and what implications did it have for disaster mental health services and service delivery? The federal disaster mental health approach in this country developed largely out of experiences with natural disasters. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differed in several important ways, inc...

Terrorism represents a major public health threat throughout the world. Bombings of the United States Embassies in East Africa in 1998 resulted in extensive physical and emotional casualties. This study examined posttraumatic stress reactions, worry, and feelings of safety in the workplace in the context of injury in a convenience sample of 21 indi...

This report describes traumatic grief in 40 individuals who suffered losses in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. We administered a self-report instrument 6 months after the bombing to assess demographics; exposure; injury; retrospective report of initial emotional and physiological reaction; and current pos...

No one who experiences a disaster is untouched by it. Children and their families are often among the most affected. This article explains how mental health and medical professionals can assist families and communities in dealing with common disaster-related stress reactions in children. An overview of disaster research and examples of special conc...

This article describes several topics necessary for understanding the psychological impact of disasters. Topics discussed include characteristics of disaster that impact psychological response, stages of response, factors influencing individual and collective trauma, and important aspects of psychological interventions. The author shares several co...