Approved for 1.5 PDHs in Domain II

This presentation will provide results of Dr. North’s federally funded research on the effects of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on employees of highly affected workplaces, including companies in the World Trade Center and nearby locations. This work represents the only research that has systematically examined psychiatric disorders and other psychosocial effects among employees who were highly exposed. The results of this work are not yet available to the public. Dr. North brings her international experience in disaster research over twodecades to the conduct of this research on the 9/11 terrorist attacks, comparing the findings of this work with her previous studies of other disasters. She will present startling findings from qualitative studies of 12 focus groups of 85 survivors as well as findings from quantitative study of 379 survivors. Her research results counter prevailing myths about psychiatric effects of disasters and provide new insights into psychiatric and psychosocial effects of terrorism in the post-9/11-affected workplace. The data from this pioneering research is vital for providinginformation relevant to needs of employees that may be affected by future disasters including terrorist attacks. For the last two decades, Dr. North has studied psychiatric effects of major disasters; she and herteam have interviewed approximately 3,000 survivors of about 15 different disasters in the U.S. andinternationally. Her disaster studies have included a range of natural and human-caused events, includingthe Oklahoma City bombing, the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, the 9/11 attacks on the WorldTrade Center, the subsequent anthrax attacks, and Hurricane Katrina.