March 5, 1999

When disasters strike local communities, district branches can seek immediate financial assistance from APA to conduct mental health outreach.

The Erich Lindemann Disaster Support Grant, which was initiated by an Assembly action paper passed last November and approved by the Board of Trustees last December, will make funds available of up to $10,000 per disaster, not to exceed $30,000 per year.

Robert Ursano, M.D., chair of APA's Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters, applauded APA's approval of the funds.

"Establishing this grant reflects APA's commitment to communities and individuals exposed to disasters," he said. "District branches will be able to use the funds to provide mental health materials and outreach following a local crisis."

He noted that various district branch members have assisted in recent disasters, including the crash of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, N.Y., in July 1996 and the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995.

According to the Assembly action paper, immediate financial assistance is needed to provide the best possible psychiatric response to disasters. Funds can be used for educational materials, communication, and travel to mobilize and provide mental health support in a timely way to victims, families, and secondary victims, such as police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians.

The action paper sponsors from Areas 1, 2, 3, and 6 asked that the grant be named in memory of Erich Lindemann, M.D., of Boston, a psychiatrist who made important contributions to the field of disaster psychiatry. Area 2 sponsor Michael Blumenfield, M.D., commented to Psychiatric News, "Lindemann was the first to recognize and describe loss associated with acute grief. He worked with the survivors and bereaved relatives of the 500 victims of the Coconut Grove Fire in Boston in 1942." His classic paper, "Symptomology and Management of Acute Grief," was published in the September 1944 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Lindemann also edited a seminal book, Beyond Grief: Studies in Crisis Intervention, published by Jason Aronson in 1979, noted Blumenfield, who is a member of APA's Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters.

Ursano told Psychiatric News that the new grant program is an outgrowth of APA's 1995 agreement with the American Red Cross to facilitate coordinating a psychiatric response in disasters. To foster ongoing communication with the Red Cross, its mental health representative and a representative from the Disaster Services Branch of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) attend annual APA disaster committee meetings to learn about upcoming events and the needs of disaster-stricken communities and mental health providers, according to Ursano.

About 54 district branch "disaster psychiatry" fellows have taken the committee's basic disaster training course at APA's annual meeting since 1996. Their travel expenses are reimbursed by the American Psychiatric Foundation. This year the committee's basic training course is "Individual and Community Interventions in Disasters," to be held Wednesday, May 19. Also on that day the new CME course "Disaster Psychiatry: Advanced Topics" will be held.

Members of APA's committee on disasters continue to be consulted by district branch officers about how to best respond to disasters, noted Ursano. A recent case in point was the Oregon district branch that tapped Ursano and other leading psychiatrists to participate in a conference on community recovery and medical responses to disasters last July after several high school students were shot in Springfield, Ore.

District branch presidents can apply for the new Erich Lindemann Disaster Support Grant by contacting Linda Roll, who staffs APA's Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters, at (202) 682-6094. She will then contact APA's medical director, president, speaker of the Assembly, and chair of the Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disasters. This process should facilitate a rapid APA response to funding requests, noted Ursano.