Name
#57 - Preliminary Findings from Navy-Wide Implementation of ORION: A Novel Solution for Providing Targeted Outreach to Service Members Exposed to a Traumatic Event
Date & Time
Monday, February 12, 2024, 12:00 PM
Description

Military personnel may be exposed to a variety of potentially traumatic events during peacetime, including ship collisions, aircraft accidents, training mishaps, and fires. In a sample of military Service members, approximately 74% of Service members reported experiencing at least one potentially traumatic event during military service and may be at elevated risk of developing stress or trauma-related symptoms and associated occupational impairments. The provision of support and outreach to trauma-exposed populations has been recognized as an important strategy in preventing and mitigating the psychological and occupational consequences of trauma-exposure. Following the USS Fitzgerald (FTZ) and USS John S. McCain (JSM) collisions in 2017, Sailors onboard the vessels received immediate psychological support and access to mental healthcare if needed. However, Navy Medicine discovered that the Navy lacked an enterprise-wide mechanism for long-term tracking of these Sailors to ensure maintenance of psychological readiness, as well as to provide coordination and connection to mental health services if stress or trauma-related symptoms developed. To address this gap, Organizational Incident Operational Nexus (ORION) was developed to track Service members and conduct targeted outreach (Caring Contacts) to those at elevated risk for psychological injury after unit-level, non-combat trauma. A 1-year pilot was conducted in 2018 with Sailors from the FTZ and JSM, and Sailors who were identified as at-risk by two commands following suicide related incidents. Sixty-two percent to 72% of at-risk Sailors completed Caring Contacts. Approximately 20% of Service members who may not have sought out mental healthcare on their own requested assistance connecting to mental healthcare through ORION. Since 2018, ORION has been activated for 16 commands in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Caring Contacts were completed with 79% (n=2494) of the Service members identified by the commands as being at risk for psychological injury. Of which, 18% requested assistance connecting to mental healthcare through ORION. These results demonstrate ongoing utility of ORION for proactive, targeted, long-term tracking of Service members following trauma-exposure for the purpose of mental healthcare coordination for the prevention and mitigation of psychological and occupational impairments. Military healthcare providers play a pivotal role in a unit’s response in caring for the physical and psychological wellbeing and readiness following a unit-level traumatic event. Awareness of ORION as a disaster mental health resource by command leadership and medical personnel would ensure that Service members at risk of developing psychological and occupational impairments following trauma-exposure would be rapidly identified and connected with a resource that would track their status and provide mental healthcare coordination if needed. While preliminary, ORION shows potential to be a critical tool in the prevention and mitigation of long-term symptoms associated with trauma-exposure.

Location Name
Prince Georges Exhibit Hall A/B
Content Presented on Behalf of
Navy
Learning Outcomes
1. Attendees will be able to describe various types of non-combat unit-level traumas in the military.
2. Attendees will have awareness of ORION as a disaster mental health resource that is available to support Service members at risk of developing psychological and occupational impairments following non-combat, unit-level trauma exposure.
3. Attendees will be able to provide an overview of the ORION program and current processes (activation, risk stratification, targeted outreach, Caring Contacts, connections to care/resources) and report preliminary results from enterprise-wide implementation.
Session Type
Posters
Dropdown Content Presented On Behalf Of:
Navy