Member Community Resources

Mitigating Mass Violence: What Can a Community Mental Health Center Do

Donald 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:

1. Describe the importance of advanced planning and communication in a crisis
2. Describe the importance of inter-agency cooperation in a community crisis
3. Describe expected effects of a tragedy on the community, including caregivers