SPIRITUAL CARE WORKER TRAINING (4 Hours)
This course prepares “lay” leaders and caregivers to provide basic spiritual and emotional care during deployment in emergency settings such as mass-care facilities, evacuation centers, and Point of Distribution (POD) sites, as well as within their own house of worship or religious institution. Designed as a half-day or evening session, this training provides a basic introduction to Disaster Spiritual Care, Disaster Mental Health, and Self-Care, in an interactive format. This four-hour curriculum includes; Emotional & Spiritual First Aid in Disaster Operations, Disaster Mental Health and Self Care. (FEMA’s on-line IS 100 course on the Incident Command System must be completed prior to this training.)

COURSE OUTLINE
The Operations Module includes:

• PCAID (Presence, Connect, Assessment, Intervention, Develop Plan of Care) technique for interventions
• Practice in providing spiritual and emotional care in various disaster scenarios

The Mental Health Module focuses on:

• Phases of psychological reaction to disaster and their impact on behaviors, thoughts, and feelings
• Psychological First Aid as a simple, appropriate intervention which anyone can offer
• Indicators that referrals for professional mental health care may be appropriate

The Self-Care Module explores:

• The need for care providers to develop effective self-care practices
• Practices that minimize compassion fatigue (“the cost of caring”) and other stresses related to providing care in times of crisis
• Strategies to promote recovery and resiliency, especially through support systems that monitor, nourish and maintain self-care for individuals and communities

Pre-requisite: 
1)  Endorsement, in writing, by the senior religious leader in your house of worship or religious institution.
2) Completion of FEMA’s on-line IS 100 course on the Incident Command System. (available on-line at http://emilms.fema.gov/IS100A/index.htm).