FACING THE FUTURE:

WHO WILL OWN READINESS FOR OUR EMERGING THREATS?

CARTER CENTER SYMPOSIUM ON MENTAL HEALTH POLICY

November 8-9, 2006

RADM Brian W. Flynn, Ed.D.

Assistant Surgeon General (USPHS, Ret.) Adjunct Professor Of Psychiatry Associate Director Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Dept of Psychiatry

Where Have We Been?

• • • • Federal legislation for over 30 years Increased understanding of behavioral health consequences of extreme events Individual and collective intervention models

practiced

more than

researched

Increased inclusion of behavioral health/social sciences--increasingly integrated into disaster health and emergency management

The Gathering/Perfect Storm…

Increased awareness

of size and scope of behavioral health

health system Culture

community mental health

Unaddressed

Increased

of: to

Challenges

solutions severe financial pressure •Lack of parity for behavioral health

Disaster Scope… Typical Disaster Katrina Pandemic

Bringing The Elephant Into The Living Room: We Lack Models/Preparedness for

National and Transnational

Disasters With Behavioral & Other Health Consequences And Who Owns the Responsibility for Preparedness, Response, and Recovery?

Who Owns It? Legislatively/Financially

• • Legislatively – – – Do we have adequate/appropriate legislation?

Local, state, federal, international?

Who does what under what authority?

Financially (very long term potential-even global economic collapse) – Who will pay?

– – Pay for what?

Pay for how long?

Who Owns It? Strategically

• • • • Strategically — Where will resources come from?

Where will the personnel come from?

– Will they come? For how long? What about families? Where will reinforcements come from?

How are these decisions made? Who makes them?

Who Owns It? Socially

• Culturally/Socially (“Terrorism strikes along the fault lines of society”

- Robert Ursano

) – Are we anticipating the potential of class, ethnic, racial, national disparity?

– – What about ostracizing the potentially exposed?

Who is more valued? Who gets immunized? Who gets treatment?

– How are these decisions made? Who makes them?

Who Owns It? Existentially

• • • • • • • • • Perhaps our greatest challenge Who are we individually and collectively?

How will we define “success”?

How will we define “failure”?

What does it mean to have our support system become our “enemy”?

Who will we be when it is over?

How will we be judged?

Are we even capable as a nation to have this discussion?

Who leads this discussion?

Suggestions:

• • • • We must begin now to address these issues The discussion must include voices from well beyond the behavioral health community (law, economics, faith, sociology, anthropology, risk/crisis communication, political science, business) Prepare with people, not for them Leadership must have unquestioned content credibility, be true “honest brokers”, nonpartisan, wise, trusted, and at the end of their careers

New Ideas?

“Without a great deal of forethought, prolonged training, and the development of systematic performances, drills, and tests of all participants, no community can prepare itself to provide those additional health services that will be essential for civilians subject to disasters. When the average community prepares itself for disasters, the effort of each citizen and every profession must be fitted into a coordinated system. Whoever guides each part of the whole must have a clear concept of the working of all the other parts.”

Source:

William Wilson (Col. MC, USA) U.S. Armed Forces Medical J., Vol 1, No.4

April 1950

The Cost of Failure

• • • Increased fear, pain, suffering and loss Potentially severe social and economic decline or collapse Continued/accelerated loss of confidence in government

The Cost of Failure

• • Shifting geopolitical power

Fear based

behavior/choices could kill more people, and do more socioeconomic damage, than the event itself

.

Potential Of Success:

• • • • • • Reduced death, loss, suffering Reduced socioeconomic adverse impact Economic growth Stronger individuals and communities Restoration in confidence in leadership Promote pro-social/positively adaptive behavioral choices leading to enhancing the public’s health