Mitigating Mass Violence: What Can a Community Mental Health Center DoDonald W. Bechtold, MD - Jefferson Center for Mental Health John Santopietro, MD - Hartford HealthCare Harold I. Schwartz, MD - Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital
What “real world” lessons did we learn from the Sandy Hook tragedy relative to the mitigation of mass violence at the community mental health level? Critical approaches must address prevention, crisis response and recovery. Prevention must address our models of care and access to it with a special focus on reducing social isolation. Crisis response requires a focus on the orchestration of an organized response via private non-profit and governmental agencies. Communication and advanced planning are critical as is consideration of recovery and resilience for immediate victims, the community and caregivers. Learning Objectives: