[§321-23]  Catastrophic and traumatic
emergency response program established.  (a)  The director shall establish
within the department a catastrophic and traumatic emergency response program
to:



(1)  Provide for the delivery of prompt psychological
services in the event of a catastrophic event or traumatic emergency;



(2)  Provide for critical incident stress debriefing
for ambulance, fire, police, and other emergency service personnel;



(3)  Provide for immediate delivery of psychological
services to the residents and visitors;



(4)  Coordinate the use of other public and private
resources of post-disaster psychological services for the immediate and
long-term delivery of psychological assistance to trauma victims; and



(5)  Advise state government and emergency service
personnel on psychological issues and trauma victim behavior in the planning of
and responses to catastrophic events and traumatic emergencies.



(b)  The director shall compile a list of
qualified mental health professionals who are willing to serve on a
catastrophic and traumatic emergency response team, giving priority to
individuals with experience in dealing with catastrophic or traumatic emergency
events.  The director shall appoint at least one team of professionals from the
list, making a reasonable effort to appoint at least one member from each
island, except Niihau.  If a qualified representative cannot be appointed from
each island, the director, at a minimum, shall appoint one member from each
county.  Each team appointed shall serve for a period of four years, with one
member who has specialized training in trauma care to be designated as the team
leader; provided that the director shall have the flexibility of appointing
additional special teams for shorter or longer periods of time as the need
arises.  Members of a catastrophic and traumatic emergency response team shall
receive continuing professional education and training on the provision of
psychological assistance to be ready to provide services whenever a
catastrophic event or traumatic emergency occurs.  The team members shall be
compensated for each day of service provided under this section, including
participation in training required by the director, in accordance with a fee
schedule to be established by the director pursuant to chapter 91.



(c)  For purposes of this section,
"catastrophic event or traumatic emergency" means any tragic
occurrence that has resulted in:



(1)  The loss of lives, infliction of injury, harm or
suffering among humans, including hostage situations; or



(2)  Extensive destruction of property.



The term includes, but shall not be limited to,
disasters for which relief is provided under chapter 127.



(d)  The team shall be activated by the
director whenever the director finds that psychological assistance is
appropriate following a catastrophic event or traumatic emergency.



(e)  The director shall adopt rules under
chapter 91 to implement the emergency response trauma program, which shall
include the qualifications of and appointment process for catastrophic and
traumatic emergency response team members. [L 1990, c 239, §3]