More Irony in Ft. Hood Tragedy: Hasan on Mental Health Panel with Army's "Top Psychiatrist"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 7, 2009 -- In yet another twist of irony, in a case already replete with it, Maj. Nidal Hasan, 39, the alleged gunman in the November 5th Fort Hood shootings, served as the co-chair of a panel which examined “Medical Issues for Psychiatrists in Disasters” at the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) annual conference held this past May in San Francisco.

Among the other experts on the panel was Col. Elspeth Ritchie, M.D., M.P.H., a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who is widely referred to as the “Army’s top psychiatrist,” in her role as the Medical Director at the Strategic Communication Directorate Office of the Army Surgeon General.

Dr. Hasan’s role as co-chair of the panel would indicate that he was better known professionally, and more highly regarded in his field of disaster psychiatry, than has been previously reported. The annual APA conference is attended by nearly 20,000 psychiatrists and mental health professionals from around the world, and is a premiere venue for the discussion of new research and best practice treatments in psychiatry. According to the APA, Hasan’s conference panel focused on the role of psychiatrists when treating patients in disaster settings, including how psychiatrists should be integrated into the general healthcare response teams in a disaster.

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