Priscilla Dass-Brailsford: Drawing Lessons from Disaster Response

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As a first responder in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, EdD, predicts that the full emotional toll for many survivors of the January 12 Haitian earthquake will take weeks, if not months, to emerge.

She saw that happen after Hurricane Katrina, a disaster she says shares some similarities with the Haitian disaster. The devastation and loss of life, of course, is far greater in Haiti, and the hardship faced by survivors will continue to escalate.

“New Orleans has a large population of working poor and the city had many infrastructure challenges,” says Dass-Brailsford, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry. “The tragedy is that it was those with the least who were affected the most.”

Although efforts were made to provide Hurricane Katrina survivors with the basic needs of food, shelter and medical assistance in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, mental health services were neglected, Dass-Brailsford says, adding that this became fertile ground for the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). The grim prediction she made shortly after participating in relief efforts – that the area’s suicide rate would jump in two to three years – came to pass.

“On my several trips to New Orleans since the disaster, people still need help and tell me that they don’t want to be forgotten,” says Dass-Brailsford, who was one of the first psychologists of color deployed to Louisiana after the hurricane struck. A week after the storm, she was assigned to the disaster mental health team at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, providing crisis interventions with the 2,000 or more people who were relocated there from the New Orleans Superdome.

Based on her experiences, Dass-Brailsford warns that relief efforts in Haiti must be collaborative, and outside agencies should strive to establish working relationships with local communities. It is also important to both respect and accommodate to culture-bound beliefs and behaviors, she says. “This means that all interventions should be culturally and linguistically sensitive and every effort should be made to keep families intact,” Dass-Brailsford says. “In the aftermath of a disaster, many people derive strength from having their families close by. Both children and the elderly are especially vulnerable groups that need the most attention.” Recovery and reconstruction after such a devastating disaster will be extensive, she says. “We must think in terms of long term recovery and I hope that the empathy which is currently evident does not diminish.

“Disaster volunteers must not be forgotten; they risk developing compassion fatigue and will need support - few can view such human suffering without it taking a personal toll,” Dass-Brailsford adds.

Dass-Brailsford has lived what she now studies. She grew up under apartheid in South Africa, a country that was torn by political violence. She saw the effects of oppression and resistance first-hand as a university student participating in the protest movement. “As a result of experiencing human right violations I became very interested in issues of social justice,” says Dass-Brailsford.

She came to the United States to study at Harvard University, where she earned an EdD in psychology. Drawn to working with low-income and marginalized communities, she initially coordinated a crisis response team that served the inner city of Boston, and later developed a trauma specialization program as faculty at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

Dr. Dass-Brailsford’s research focuses on community violence on ethnic minority communities, political trauma and resiliency. She is also interested in the psychological effects of disasters on survivors, first responders and other providers. One of her research projects in New Orleans examines secondary trauma among volunteers and mental health professionals. Her experience as a first responder led, in part, to the publication of her book, Crisis and Disaster Counseling: Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and Other Disasters. She is an APA Fellow and an active member of the American Psychological Association’s Divisions of Trauma and the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues.

By Renee Twombly, GUMC Communications