ABSTRACT
Psychiatric emergency care personnel may be required to provide assistance in a disaster. Those organizing the administrative and psychiatric component to a disaster need to keep in mind what constitutes a disaster: such events as hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, earthquake, wind-driver water, tidal wave, tsunami, volcanic eruption, landslide, explosion or other catastrophe causing damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant assistance beyond those usually available locally for emergency situations. Agencies need to consider special disaster training for their mental health professionals and administrators to make them more able to respond in the event of a disaster. In addition, agencies can call on citizens to assist in crisis work with disaster victims. Guidelines which train agency workers for disaster response to the mental health aspects should take into consideration that they need to be geared so that they prepare the professionals as well as volunteer laypersons.
