Education

Workplace Preparedness and Response
for Disaster and Terrorism

Speakers

Carl C. Bell, M.D., President & C.E.O., Community Mental Health Council & Foundation, Inc. Director of Public and Community Psychiatry and a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Bell is nationally recognized for his expertise in the cultural implications of trauma exposure. Among his many accomplishments and contributions, Dr. Bell was appointed to the Violence Against Women Advisory Council by Janet Reno the Attorney General Department of Justice and Donna Shalala Secretary Department of Health and Human Services — 1995–2000. He was a participant — White House’s Strategy Session on Children, Violence, and Responsibility and was appointed to the working group for Dr. Satcher’s Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health — Culture, Race, and Ethnicity.

Author of over 200 articles on mental health, Dr. Bell is editor of Psychiatric Perspectives on Violence: Understanding Causes and Issues in Prevention and Treatment; author of Getting Rid of Rats: Perspectives of a Black Community Psychiatrist to name but a few.

Dr. Bell was the E.Y. Williams Distinguished Senior Clinical Scholar Award of the Section on Psychiatry of the National Medical Association in 1992. He received the American Psychiatric Association President’s Commendation — Violence in 1997.

David M. Benedek M.D., LTC, MC, U.S.A., Associate Professor, USUHS, Senior Scientist, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Dr. Benedek is a disaster psychiatrist, consultant and researcher with expertise in forensic psychiatry. Dr. Benedek delivered mental health support to U.S. and NATO Troops for Operation Joint Endeavor in the former Yugoslavia; served as the Assistant Chief of Inpatient Psychiatry, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Chief, Forensic Psychiatry Service; and Director, National Capital Consortium Military Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program at Walter Reed.

Dr. Benedek has deployed to Cuba, Iraq and Kuwait in conjunction with the Global War on Terrorism. In 2004 he was appointed Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General for Forensic Psychiatry. He has received the Meritorious Service (20LC) and Army Commendation (3OLC) Medals for his work at Walter Reed and in Bosnia, the LTG Claire Chennault Award for Outstanding Military Psychiatry Faculty Member, and the American Psychiatric Association’s Nancy C.A. Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education.

Brian W. Flynn, Ed. D., Associate Director, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Dr. Flynn, former Assistant Surgeon General in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) is a consultant, writer, trainer, and speaker specializing in preparation for, response to, and recovery from, the psychosocial aspects of large-scale emergencies and disasters. He is recognized internationally for his expertise in large-scale trauma and has served as an advisor to practitioners, academicians, and government officials in many nations.

Among his notable achievements and contributions are having served as a special consultant to both USAID and the State Department regarding the mental health consequences of the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; accompanying Vice President and Mrs. Gore on their trip to Columbine High School where he advised on issues regarding violence and trauma and met with the families of the dead and injured; onsite assessment in NYC post 9/11 of mental health needs and helping design and implement service programs; serving as senior advisor to Department of Health and Human Services leadership including Secretary Tommy Thompson and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Alfonso Martinez-Fonts, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Coordination, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Martinez-Fonts is Special Assistant to the Secretary of Homeland Security in charge of the Private Sector Office. Mr. Martinez-Fonts retired as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Chase Bank in El Paso, Texas where he had been President of the Bank in San Antonio.

His overseas business experience involved managing Chemical Bank’s offices in Manila, Philippines (1976–1979) and Mexico City, Mexico (1982–1988). He was Regional Manager based in New York of Chemical’s business in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia (1980–1982).

Mr. Martinez-Fonts has served on the boards of The Greater El Paso Chamber Foundation, Project ARRIBA, ACCION International, and ACCION USA. He was a member of the Frito-Lay Hispanic/Latino Advisory Board, the United Way of El Paso Board, and the University of Texas at El Paso Development Board. In the past he also served on the Fannie Mae Advisory Board and the American Bankers Association Communications Council. He is the 1995 recipient of The National Conference of Christians and Jews Humanitarian Award.

He served as 1993 Chairman of The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and 1988 President of The American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City.

Robyn R.M. Gershon, D.P.H., Associate Professor, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University

Dr. Gershon is a renowned occupational health and safety researcher with over 15 years of experience in conducting complex occupational health research studies. Her work includes studies on a wide range of topics related to high stress and high risk, work populations including police officers and police stress, and emergency preparedness including bioterrorism preparedness in the workplace. Dr. Gershon is currently the Principal Investigator of The World Trade Center Evacuation Study (10/01/02 – 9/30/06) that is designed to identify the individual, organizational, and structural factors associated with the evacuation of the World Trade Center Towers One and Two on September 11, 2001. A series of publications is in progress.

Dr. Gershon leads an active research team of public health scientists, epidemiologists, statisticians, occupational physicians, and research assistants, all focused on various safety and health aspects of the work environment. She has published over 60 publications as well as a number of book chapters and monographs.

Carol S. North, M.D., M.P.E., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern

Dr. North investigates the psychiatric effects of disasters and terrorism, and the interface of psychiatric and medical disease. Dr. North’s studies on the psychiatric disorders among survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing are among the most widely cited in the field of disaster mental health. The author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific published articles, Dr. North has served on editorial boards for scientific journals, and chaired or served on committees for federal grant review and development of terrorism policy for the Institute of Medicine. Listed in The Best Doctors in America, Dr. North is also recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Fellow of the American Psychopathological Association, serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, and is past president of the Eastern Missouri Psychiatric Society.

Robert J. Ursano, M.D. Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Dr. Ursano is a world-renowned disaster psychiatrist and leader in the advancement of disaster mental health education, policy and the integration of disaster mental health and public health. His work includes military and civilian planning, response and recovery from traumatic events including natural and human made disasters. Dr. Ursano has received the Department of Defense Humanitarian Service Award and the highest award of the International Traumatic Stress Society, The Lifetime Achievement Award, for “outstanding and fundamental contributions to understanding traumatic stress.” He is the recipient of the William C. Porter Award from the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. Dr. Ursano was the first Chairman of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster.

Dr. Ursano served on the Institute of Medicine committee that authored the report, Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism, which recognized the workplace as an important setting for terrorism education and preparedness. Dr. Ursano is widely published in the areas of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the psychological effects of terrorism, bioterrorism, traumatic events and disasters and combat. Dr. Ursano has over 200 publications. He is co-author or editor of seven books. His publications include the widely cited and referenced “Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster: Patient Care, Community Consultation, and Preventive Medicine” in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry and the internationally recognized volume Individual and Community Responses to Trauma and Disaster: The Structure of Human Chaos. (Cambridge University Press.)

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