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Since that time the Canadian
Threat Assessment Training Board
was organized in collaboration
with Lethbridge Community College
and Canadian Federal Justice Department
funding was received for a collaborative
project developed by Mr. Cameron
and Superintendent Glenn Woods,
(OIC Behavioural Sciences and
lead criminal profiler for the
RCMP) that has significantly expanded
the work of dealing with high-risk
student behaviours and the impact
of violent trauma on systems (schools,
communities) by developing the
framework for student threat assessment
training. The threat assessment
team protocols and two day training
were piloted by Mr. Cameron and
Superintendent Glenn Woods during
the 2001-2002 school year in Alberta.
Modeling multidisciplinary collaboration,
Mr. Cameron and the criminal profilers
are now training school-based
multidisciplinary threat assessment
teams across the country.
Further training has been developed
for crisis response teams utilizing
the TES Model of Trauma Response©.
The model replaces the term "crisis
response" with "trauma
response" to denote what
is now understood as the longer-term
effects of crises and traumatic
events. Many school and community
systems have assumed that suicides,
car accidents, and even serious
acts of violence like school shootings
have only temporary effects on
their members but clinical experience
across North America suggests
that multiple factors can influence
how quickly recovery occurs or
does not occur. Training in the
TES Model of Trauma Response focuses
on initial trauma response with
students, as well as the broader
response that includes adult systems
(e.g. school staff system and
parent system). It includes the
process of community intervention
and criteria for when these interventions
are warranted. The more complex
issue of the longer-term impact
of trauma on human systems is
addressed along with training
in how to modify crisis (trauma)
response protocols based on the
systems' pre-trauma functioning.
In March 2001, Mr. Cameron was
invited to Washington, D.C. by
members of the United States Secret
Service and the U.S. Department
of Education, where he presented
parts of the TES Model and opened
international collaborative relations
for the development of threat
assessment protocols and related
training. In October 2001 Mr.
Cameron was invited by Marleen
Wong, one of the lead trauma experts
in the U.S.Government response
to the recent terrorist attacks
in New York, to draft and present
an academic paper ("Trauma
in Human Systems: A Brief Introduction")
in Los Angeles to the Los Angeles
Unified School District (second
largest school district in North
America).
Most recently, Mr. Cameron was
invited to Washington, D.C. by
the U.S. Department of Education,
U.S. State Department, and the
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) to participate
in an International Meeting on
Helping Schools Prepare for and
Respond to Terrorist Attacks.
This ten-country meeting was a
first step in addressing the broad
issues of domestic and international
terrorism. Participants included
the United States, Canada, France,
Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico,
Spain, Britain, Northern Ireland,
and Turkey. U.S. Attorney General,
John Ashcroft and U.S. Secretary
of Education, Roderick Paige addressed
this meeting and commented on
it's significance in beginning
the process of better understanding
how to keep our schools safe from
traumatic events like the terrorist
attacks of September 11th and
how to better respond to a broad
range of crises and traumatic
events.
In conjuction with the above
meeting Mr. Cameron was requested
by Special Assistant to the Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Education
to provide consultation in the
aftermath of the terrorist attacks
in Washington, D.C., especially
around the concept of "entitlement".
The concept was first introduced
by Mr. Cameron and is a key factor
in understanding aftermath recovery
when reviewing how pre-trauma
functioning of human systems influences
response and recovery to traumatic
events.
Currently, Mr. Cameron and his
associates are collaborating with
professionals from Omagh, Northern
Ireland. In August 1998, Omagh
became the victim of one of Northern
Ireland's worst terrorist attacks
as a car bomb set off by the "Real
IRA" killed 30 people in
the busy market area of Omagh
on a Sunday morning. A series
of videoconferences have been
held to structure further learning
conferences that will be broadcast
in Canada and Northern Ireland
to assist in the training of professionals
and students in the areas of:
a) dealing with trauma in human
systems b) school crisis response,
and c) threat assessment. This
collaborative effort includes
participation from Alberta Mental
Health (Ponoka Hospital), Loma
Linda University, Graduate School
(Marital and Family Therapy Program)
Canadian Campus, and Horizon School
Division (Taber, AB), and others.
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