POST PIRACYTRAUMA ASSESSMENT& TREATMENTBEST PRACTICES FOR THE MARITIME SHIPPING INDUSTRY

THE SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE | CENTER FOR SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS DISASTER PSYCHIATRY OUTREACH AT THE MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & THE NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY AND INSTITUTE

INTRODUCTION EVERY PIRATE ATTACK CHALLENGES SHIP CREWS AND SHORE-SIDE MANAGEMENT.

Robbery, hostage taking, or sailing through piracy zones can cause mariners to suffer from health and morale issues. Piracy preoccupies senior management with concerns beyond the immediate welfare of their crews, including cargo delays, risks of escalating violence, complex ransom negotiations, and the potential for adverse publicity. Trained response to a piracy incident promotes crew safety and protection in the short term and strengthened worker morale, company identity and positive publicity in the long term.

In this spirit, the Seamen’s Church Institute’s Center for Seafarers’ Rights (CSR) announces a multi-year study of clinical assessment and treatment for survivors of piracy attacks. The program seeks to identify unique stressors of piracy hostage situations, along with immediate and ongoing medical evaluation strategies for crewmembers and their families. Study outcomes will include plans to care for families during captivity, clinically assess seafarers after piracy incidents, assist families during prolonged piracy episodes, and triage short- and long-term mental health treatment. Study beneficiaries include ships’ crews and their families; ship operators and their human resource departments; and maritime insurers.A MULTI-YEAR STUDY

CLINICAL ASSESSMENTAND TREATMENT FOR SURVIVORS OF PIRACY ATTACKSCOLLABORATION CSR WILL COLLABORATE WITH DISASTER PSYCHIATRY OUTREACH (DPO) AT MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (MSSM) AND THE NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY AND INSTITUTE (NYPSI).

The three organizations will oversee research scope, methodology and

final work product. Specifically, the joint initiatives seek to study the impact of piracy on seafarers and their families and develop best practices for all parties involved in piracy incidents. To this end, the project will

1. Retain and supervise a part-time post-doctoral psychologist or psychiatrist to study effects of piracy as well as other occupational factors and experiences on the mental health of merchant mariners, including relevant mental health literature, review as it relates to seafarers, piracy, hostage situations and cross-cultural attitudes toward mental health treatment;

2. Conduct post-piracy assessments with ship operators and health/mental health professionals who have intervened on ships after release from captivity;

3. Compare piracy survivors with a control group of seafarers at 90-day, 6-month and 1-year intervals regarding medical complaints, family stressors and crew retention in the shipping industry;

4. Work with crew of Maersk Alabama hijacked off the coast of Somalia in April 2009 to study short-term mental health outcomes of piracy incident survivors;

5. Identify and create resources for addressing secondary crew stressors, such as vessel transit through high-risk shipping lanes or evading attempted piracy attack;

6. Collaborate with other maritime industry leaders to produce best practice recommendations on mariners’ assessment and treatment for use by shipping companies, unions, port chaplains and other seafarer welfare organizations;

7. Consider criteria for recruiting, training and coordinating future trauma specialists to be on call around the world for emergency post-piracy attack assessment.

The retained psychologist or psychiatrist will work with CSR who have studied piracy for more than a decade. Combining clinical, legal advocacy and human resource practice, they will develop recommendations to reduce crew trauma and promote individual crew resilience, thus leading to greater crew retention and fewer medical claims.

CONTACT INFORMATION TO DISCUSS THE PROJECT’S SCOPE OR FUNDING, PLEASE CONTACT

The Rev. David M. RiderThe Seamen’s Church InstitutePresident & Executive Director212-349-9090drider@seamenschurch.org

Douglas B. Stevenson, Esq.Center for Seafarers’ Rights Director212-349-9090dstevenson@seamenschurch.org

PROJECT FUNDING

CSR estimates project costs to be $100K per year for five years ($500K total), including:

• CSR clinician and attorney staff project costs;

• Research overhead and sponsorship fees for three sponsoring organizations;

• CSR team travel to clinical and maritime conferences for collaboration and research presentation;

• Provisional and final research documentation and publication.

PROJECT UNDERWRITERS

CSR solicits tax-deductible contributions to fund this project. Gifts, payable to the Seamen’s Church Institute, can be made on a one-time or multi-year basis. Donors may remain anonymous or be recognized in SCI’s Annual Report and comparable venues. To maintain research objectivity, project underwriters will be acknowledged but will not materially participate in the research scope or methodology.

SCI WILL RECRUIT A PANEL OF LEGAL, MEDICAL, HUMAN RESOURCE AND SHIPPING INDUSTRY LEADERS TO MONITOR AND REVIEW THE FINAL PRODUCT’S USEFULNESS TO THE MARITIME INDUSTRY.

THE SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE | CENTER FOR SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS

MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERS

Disaster Psychiatry Outreach (DPO) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine provides psychosocial services, training, and support for emergencies worldwide. Two DPO psychiatrists responded in support of the Maersk Alabama field team and spent five days on location in Mombasa, Kenya, returning to Andrews Air Force Base with the crew in April 2009. These clinicians and their field experiences will actively contribute to this research project. DPO has been utilizing the good will and expertise of psychiatrists to alleviate suffering in the aftermath of catastrophic events since 1998. It has been involved in a range of domestic and international events spanning aviation disasters to earthquakes to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. DPO also conducts training and research in support of its clinical mission, including developing and implementing advanced training on the mental health consequences of bioterrorism and other public health emergencies for New York hospital emergency departments.

The New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, also affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine, serves as the oldest psychoanalytic training center in America and continues its commitment to scholarship and the highest clinical standards. Its research and clinical training brings the highest ethical and educational standards, in the interests not only of past, present, and future patients, but of the public, students, science, and the healthcare profession. The piracy project’s clinical psychologist or psychologist will collaborate extensively with both DPO and NYPSI.

SCI has, throughout its 175 years of service, advocated for merchant mariners’ rights, providing legal assistance, seafarers’ rights education, and prevention programs on behalf of the world’s merchant mariners. CSR operates in the dynamic environment of the maritime world, continuously adjusting to changing realities. Whether changing from sail to steam, peacetime to war, or break bulk to containerized shipping, SCI has built its prophetic justice mission to respond internationally to the issues of the day. In this spirit, CSR initiates this comprehensive assessment of crew welfare during and after piracy episodes. SCI attorneys regularly participate in International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization, United States Congressional and other countries’ legislative deliberations relating to seafarers’ issues.

CENTER FORSEAFARERS’RIGHTS

THE SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE241 WATER STREETNEW YORK, NY 10038

SEAMENSCHURCH.ORG