District 7 Fire & Rescue
Protecting Northwest
Bexar County since 2006
Presenters
Chance Freeman
Chance A. Freeman is the Director of Disaster Behavioral Health Services at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission where he provides direction for the state’s disaster behavioral health services program and crisis counseling and training program. He began working in the field of Disaster Mental Health in 1998 as an outreach/crisis counselor. Since that time, Chance has responded to over 28 federally declared disasters and a variety of emergency events such as the Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery project, the West Fertilizer Plant Explosion, Church Shootings in Sutherland Springs and White Settlement TX, School shooting in Santa Fe, TX, and Uvalde, TX, El Paso Walmart Shooting, shooting spree in Midland/Odessa, and COVID19. As a result of his extensive experience with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Programs, Mr. Freeman has provided technical assistance and training on CCP grant development and management to a variety of states and federal agencies. Through his experience, Mr. Freeman has also provided training at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland and is a member of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration Cadre of Consults. Mr. Freeman serves the Chair of Texas’ Disaster Behavioral Health Consortium. He assisted as a field reviewer for SAMHSA’s Disaster Planning Handbook for Behavioral Health Treatment Programs, TAP 34, contributed to the book “Integrating Emergency Management and Disaster Behavioral Health – One Picture Through Two Lenses” by Brian W. Flynn & Ronald Sherman. Most recently he was named as the State Behavioral Health Initiative Advisor to the Terrorism and Disaster Network Committee where he promotes the behavioral health and well-being of children and families by strengthening our nation’s preparedness and response to terrorism, disaster, mass violence, and public health emergencies and is a member of the Executive Advisory Board for the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network where he advises organizational leadership for, growth, training, and the betterment of the services provided to the law enforcement professionals of Texas
Mirta San Martan
Mirta is a psychologist and licensed mental health counselor with over 45 years of clinical experience in direct care, trauma, disaster response, and crisis management and training. As a disaster mental health responder she has worked multiple events including TWA Flight 800 air disaster, Egypt Air, hurricanes Irene, Lee, and Sandy, Boston Marathon bombing, and 9/11 (providing services to civilians, victim families, first responders, military, NGOs, support agencies, NY state agencies). She has served as a subject matter expert on New York State Office of Mental Health committees developing and revising the curriculum for training in psychological first aid and fundamentals of disaster mental health. Mirta helped establish the South Beach Psychiatric Center Critical Incident Response Team, the go team in New York State’s disaster mental health response corps. She is a consulting clinician with POPPA, Police Officers Providing Peer Assistance, a volunteer organization of peer support officers and mental health professionals providing outreach and support services to NYPD officers, training for peer law enforcement officers, education about PTSD and suicide prevention, and direct crisis intervention. She also volunteers as a mental health consultant on the New Jersey FMBA crisis team and is certified as a NJDRCC by New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services' Disaster and Terrorism Branch. Mirta is an ICISF Approved Instructor, considers training the next generation of peer support and CISM services providers as an integral part of her work in crisis response. Her presentations at past ICIRN conferences have included “Response, Recovery, and Reintegration After a Prolonged Disaster Response,” “Suicide Risk Among Retired Public Safety Professionals,” and “Looking to the Future: Succession Planning for Teams.”
Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt
Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt is an Emergency Management Professional with a passion for helping people understand the challenges of crisis of all kinds… including day to day stress. She is known for her work with private business, health care, government, schools and community groups. She has worked with groups all over the world and has responded personally to all types of incidents… from natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and floods to airline accidents, school and community violence, and mass fatality incidents. She stepped in to take the job nobody ever wants to have to fill…. The Director of Recovery for a school district who had a mass murder suicide in the high school cafeteria. And she was tasked with coordinating the mental health and support services in an Emergency Operations Center in a community that suffered the most catastrophic mass fatalities incident in the State of Washington. During the pandemic, she has been supporting those responders who stepped in… and stepped up…for a prolonged event that has impacted every … single … person.. in the world. She is a Hall of Fame Member at the International Network for Women in Emergency Management (InWEM), a Faculty member at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, is a subject matter expert for US Department of Education, was honored with a Real Hero Award from American Red Cross, has been recognized by the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. She is Board President of Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, an international disaster mental health non profit organization.
Dr. Zen Hooper
Mirta is a psychologist and licensed mental health counselor with over 45 years of clinical experience in direct care, trauma, disaster response, and crisis management and training. As a disaster mental health responder she has worked multiple events including TWA Flight 800 air disaster, Egypt Air, hurricanes Irene, Lee, and Sandy, Boston Marathon bombing, and 9/11 (providing services to civilians, victim families, first responders, military, NGOs, support agencies, NY state agencies). She has served as a subject matter expert on New York State Office of Mental Health committees developing and revising the curriculum for training in psychological first aid and fundamentals of disaster mental health. Mirta helped establish the South Beach Psychiatric Center Critical Incident Response Team, the go team in New York State’s disaster mental health response corps. She is a consulting clinician with POPPA, Police Officers Providing Peer Assistance, a volunteer organization of peer support officers and mental health professionals providing outreach and support services to NYPD officers, training for peer law enforcement officers, education about PTSD and suicide prevention, and direct crisis intervention. She also volunteers as a mental health consultant on the New Jersey FMBA crisis team and is certified as a NJDRCC by New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services' Disaster and Terrorism Branch. Mirta is an ICISF Approved Instructor, considers training the next generation of peer support and CISM services providers as an integral part of her work in crisis response. Her presentations at past ICIRN conferences have included “Response, Recovery, and Reintegration After a Prolonged Disaster Response,” “Suicide Risk Among Retired Public Safety Professionals,” and “Looking to the Future: Succession Planning for Teams.”
Joe Collins
Joe Collins is a 35-year law enforcement veteran who retired in 2020 from the Two Rivers (W.I.) Police Department as Chief of Police/Acting City Manager. Joe holds an associate’s degree in police science, a bachelor’s degree in administration of criminal justice, and a master’s degree in managing organizational behavior.
Joe is a graduate of the 236th session of the FBI National Academy and was the 2015-2016 president of the Wisconsin FBI National Academy Association where he served five years on the executive board. He has previously served as co-chair of the FBINAA’s Officer Safety & Wellness Committee for nearly 10 years and was a member of the training and finance committees. Joe is a master instructor with the FBINAA’s Comprehensive Officer Resilience Train-the-Trainer Programâ„ , and a lead facilitator for the resiliency programs for Resilient Minds on the Front Lines, the U.S Air Force, States of New Jersey and Georgia. He also serves as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice and the IACP as a subject matter expert in Officer Resilience.
As a public safety liaison and a strategic account manager with Acadia Healthcare’s Treatment Placement Specialists® team, Joe provides specialized treatment guidance for public safety personnel, first responders, and families who may find themselves in a personal crisis.
Curtiss Lanham
Chaplain Curtiss Lanham has served as the Chaplain/Peer Support Officer for Fort Bend County EMS since March 2018, and leads the Peer Support Team. He also serves as the Pastor for Pastoral Care and Counseling at CrossRoad Lutheran Church (LCMS), Katy, TX. He serves on the Chaplain Team for Fulshear-Simonton Fire Department. Chaplain Curtiss serves on CISM teams and as a Mental Health Coach. He is trained in CISM-IG, First Responder Chaplaincy, ASIST, ESC in Disasters, Mindful Decontamination, Suicide Awareness, Survival for First Responders, CIDP/ATIP, Care and Counsel for Combat Trauma/Peer Support Groups, Fire Service Suicide Prevention, and Mental Health Coaching. He is a member of ICISF, AACC, and SCA. He received an Award for Heroism for his part in the MCI at the Brookside Village Pipeline Explosion in October 1978.
Chaplain Curtiss began his career in EMS in 1978 with Pearland Area EMS, subsequently serving as a Lead Paramedic at Fort Bend County EMS, and Katy Fire/EMS. He served as a lead EMS Instructor at Houston Community College and Alvin Community College, and Clinical Coordinator at San Jacinto College Central. He is a native Houstonian and now lives in Weston Lakes, TX with his wife of 35 years, Melba who is also a retired Paramedic. They have one son and daughter-in-law, with two grandkids. Chaplain Curtiss and Melba owned a dog behavior business serving families with dogs suffering from deep behavior issues such as fear-based, trauma related behaviors (anxiety, noise phobia, reactivity, etc.) using evidence-based modalities.
Dr. Susan Brasel
Dr Susan Brasel holds several graduate and undergraduate degrees including two in Education, Music Performance, andher Doctorate in Holistic Health. She has been working with people in crises for most of her career starting in 1995 with Public Services of Oklahoma, 18 Years with the United States Air Force Child and Youth Programs, and most recently with the National Crisis Response Canine program, along with “Gibbs” the first American Hairless Terrier trained and actively working in the program.
Susan brings a wealth of knowledge and more importantly experience in all aspects of Crisis response and mental health with recent crisis response deployments in Florida at Surfside, Tornados in Kentucky, and the mass shooting event in Uvalde, Texas. In her spare time Susan likes painting rocks, being at home with her dogs, her friends, and her son.
Dr. Dan Casey
Dr. Dan Casey is a Master Certified Traumatologist, a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, a Licensed Master Social Worker, and he holds a Doctorate from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, in Children, Families & Learning, as well as a BS and MA from Bemidji State University. Dan is Board Certified in Trauma Response, Disaster Response, School Crisis Response, and the Incident Command System.
Dan’s background is Wildland firefighting and college counseling. He serves as the coordinator of three crisis response teams: 1 – Consortium of MN Crisis Response Team (48 individual teams); 2 – Minnesota-Intra College Crisis Network (28 colleges/universities) and 3 the Wildland Fire Crisis Network. Dan is the Director of a Certified Green Cross Site, Upper Midwest Traumatology Training Institute. Dan provides Compassion Fatigue Educator, Compassion Fatigue Therapist, Field Traumatologist, and courses leading to Certified Traumatologist certifications. Dan has deployed as Area Command, Incident Commander, Operations Section Chief, and Strike Team Leader, on many events around the world.
Dan has co-authored two textbooks specific to the field of crisis intervention, Rural Emergency Response, a guide to services in the rural volunteer community (2000, 2nd) and Crisis and Trauma in Colleges and Universities (2004).
Dr. Alan Peterson
Alan L. Peterson is a Professor and the Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine within the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio). He is a board-certified clinical health psychologist, the Krus Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, and the Associate Director of Research for the Military Health Institute at UT Health San Antonio. He is also a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Peterson is the Director of the STRONG STAR Consortium, which includes over 150 research collaborators and 40 institutions worldwide. He served previously as the Chair of the Department of Psychology and the Director of the Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the U.S. Air Force’s Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. Dr. Peterson retired from the Air Force in 2005 after 21 years of active duty service including deployments in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. He has clinical and research expertise in the areas of behavioral medicine, psychological trauma, and resiliency. He has published 7 books, over 350 scientific manuscripts, and given over 600 presentations at national and international meetings.
Brian Bennet
Brian Bennet, a Registered Massage Therapist from Collingwood/Markham, Canada, has been a volunteer and paid ski patroller with the Canadian Ski Patrol (for 32 years), and a member of their CISM team (16 years) being presented with several awards for his dedication to CISM with the Patrol. In 2016 he became the first National CISM Coordinator for the Canadian Ski Patrol with approximately 4500 members. Brian volunteered for the Canadian Red Cross during the Ft McMurray fire disaster working as a Safety & Wellbeing Responder/Supervisor providing psycho-social support to
residents displaced by fires and residing in Edmonton. He has trained in firefighting becoming NFPA 1001 FF1 and FF2 certified. Brian, as a medical venue manager for the Toronto2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, coordinated the development of a mental health program for the first time in Pan/Parapan Am Games history, and managed 8 sport venues, 3 satellite accommodation clinics, assisted the Emergency Manager in the coordination of medical services for spectators across the Games, and managed all medical for the opening/closing ceremonies for the Parapan Am Games.
In September 2017, Brian was the medical co-lead for all cycling events at the Invictus Games. Most recently Brian was employed by the Gold Coast Games organizing committee, as Venue Medical Manager for the Commonwealth Games in Australia. As part of this role, he developed and presented a Medical Staff Support (CISM) Program to 50 Fulltime medical staff/managers at the Games. This program was in place to support over 1400 medical volunteers for the duration of the Games. Brian is an ICISF approved CISM instructor since 2009 and an approved instructor for the R2MR Road to Mental Readiness program from the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs and the Mental Health Commision Canada. Brian teaches locally in Toronto as well as across Canada. He has presented "International Multisport Games and the Provision of CISM, Past, Present, and Future" at the "ICISF World Congress on Stress, Trauma, and Coping" In Baltimore Maryland, the Pan/Parapan Am medical conference prior to the Games in Toronto, to sports medicine physicians during the CASEM endurance medicine course at Ironman Muskoka, and at the PRO Parks and Recreation Ontario Aquatics conference. Brian regularly volunteers his time to present talks for provincial and national organizations.
Schedule
Monday October 31st
8:00-10:00
Responding to Mass Casualty Incidents: Crisis for Those Affected
Presenters: Mr. Freeman and Dr. Hooper
10:30-11:15
Post Critical Care Seminar
Presenters: Cathy and Javier Bustos
11:15-12:00
Wildland Fire Response: An Opportunity for CISM Support
Presenters: Lt. Edward Hurron
1:45-2:30
CISM and Peer Support Promotes Resilience and Wellness
Presenters: Denise Thompson
3:00-3:30
CISM: From One Department to Operational Personnel and Communities Around the World
Presenters: Richard Barton
3:30-4:15
ICIRN: Operationalizing CISM- Why We Do What We Do and Hot To Do It
Presenters: Mirta San Martín
4:15-5:00
Discussion of Lessons Learned Providing Crisis Intervention/CISM
Presenters: Denise Thompson
Tuesday November 1st
8:00-10:00
I'm Not Okay... Now What?!?!
Presenters: Joseph Collins
10:30-11:15
Development of a Country-wide Provider Health Program
Presenters: Chaplain Curtiss Lanham
11:15-12:00
CISM Applications: Stress Reactions in the Healthcare Environment
Presenters: Brian Bennet
1:15-2:00
Creating Mutual aid Relationships Before the Critical Incident
Presenters: Kristina Ford
2:00-2:45
Massed Prolonged Exposure for PTSD in Two Firefighters: Preliminary Case Study Findings
Presenters: Dr. Graham and Dr. Peterson
3:15-4:00
9/11: From Departmental Response to Personal Recovery
Presenters: Chaplain Michael Saxe
4:00-4:45
Trauma Recovery Intervention Protocol: A Peer Support Intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress
Presenters: Dr. Royster
Wednesday November 2nd
8:00-9:30
Compassion Fatigue
Presenters: Dr. Dan Casey
10:00-11:45
Single Incident vs. On-Going Incident: What, Where, and How Does CISM Fit In?
Presenters: Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt
11:15-12:00
From Memorials to Murals: A Personal Experience In Providing Crisis Support
Presenters: Dr. Susan Brasel
1:00-2:00
Leaders: First Line of Defense
Presenters: Tiffany Juarez and Dr. Jason Miller
2:00-2:45
Surviving PTSD: A Success Story
Presenters: Keith Hanks
3:15-4:00
First H.E.L.P.: Mission to Support First Responders and Their Families
Presenters: Michael Marotta
4:00-4:30
Planning into Practice: Strategic Planning for the Next Traumatic Incident
Presenters: Denise Thompson
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