{"id":47207,"date":"2003-07-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-07-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/07\/02\/more-than-215-to-attend-disaster-mental-health-conference-in-omaha-july-10-11\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:44:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:44:07","slug":"more-than-215-to-attend-disaster-mental-health-conference-in-omaha-july-10-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/07\/02\/more-than-215-to-attend-disaster-mental-health-conference-in-omaha-july-10-11\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 215 to attend disaster mental health conference \n\n in Omaha July 10-11"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 215 people are expected to attend the first-ever Nebraska <\/p>\n

Disaster Mental Health Conference on July 10-11 at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown <\/p>\n

Omaha. <\/p>\n

The conference is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Health & Human <\/p>\n

Services, the University of Nebraska Medical Center department of psychiatry, <\/p>\n

BryanLGH Medical Center, NEBHANDS, and Lutheran Family Services. George Hanigan, <\/p>\n

deputy director of behavioral health for the Nebraska Department of Health & <\/p>\n

Human Services, is conference coordinator. <\/p>\n

“Disaster mental health programs really didn’t begin until about <\/p>\n

1992 when Hurricane Andrew struck in Florida,” said Robin Zagurski, a social <\/p>\n

worker in the UNMC department of psychiatry and one of the conference planners. <\/p>\n

“Now, mental health is becoming an increasingly important part of any disaster <\/p>\n

management program. <\/p>\n

“We think it’s important for Nebraska to host this conference. Our <\/p>\n

plan is to become the national center for the disaster mental health conference <\/p>\n

and to make it an annual event.” <\/p>\n

Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns will deliver the welcoming remarks along with Richard <\/p>\n

Raymond, M.D., chief medical officer for Nebraska.<\/p>\n

“The conference is just another example of how state agencies in Nebraska <\/p>\n

have been working with the state university and the private sector to educate <\/p>\n

people on developing areas of public concern, such as bioterrorism,” Zagurski <\/p>\n

said. “Judging from the strong response to this conference, it’s indicative <\/p>\n

of the high level of interest in how people can best deal with disasters.”<\/p>\n

Zagurski said people exposed to disasters have a four times greater risk of <\/p>\n

suffering mental health problems than people exposed to lesser traumatic events. <\/p>\n

If not treated, people exposed to disasters can eventually wind up with serious <\/p>\n

psychiatric problems, such as post traumatic stress syndrome, she said.<\/p>\n

“Just because you’ve been exposed to a disaster doesn’t mean <\/p>\n

you will be damaged by it, but you will be changed by it,” said Zagurski, <\/p>\n

who spent two weeks in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist <\/p>\n

attack providing mental health assistance to families. <\/p>\n

Some of the speakers at the conference and their topics will include: <\/p>\n