COVID-19 is affecting all facets of society today and life as we know it. This pandemic is creating havoc around the world and is being used by threat actors to perpetrate grey zone actions and to infiltrate security vulnerabilities.
In this episode of Vanguard Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Valarie Findlay, American Society for Evidenced-Based Policing member and a research fellow for the Police Foundation (USA). Valarie has two decades of senior-level expertise in cybersecurity and policing initiatives. She has worked extensively on federal cyber initiatives and is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police eCrimes Cyber Council and AFCEA DC. She has a Masters in Sociology and a Masters in Terrorism Studies with her dissertation addressing the impacts of terrorism on law enforcement in Western Nations.
In a time of crisis, there are a number of areas of potential exposure for malicious threats and non-malicious threats. The latter is more a part of a pandemic. Learn more about how one aspect is affecting other aspects of society, resulting in a broader state of vulnerability.
Hear about grey zone actions that can create vulnerabilities for a nation to be attacked and who it can be used to erode a nation's democracy. These are covert and often hard to detect actions. But how we respond to them is important in maintaining a democracy and the overall stability of a nation. When a country is in a state of crisis or vulnerability like the COVID-19 pandemic, it leaves that nation more susceptible to grey zone actions. The question at that point is, does that nation have the ability to handle additional threats in a state of crisis?
Valarie talks about Prevention, Detection, Response and Recovery strategies and how these can help in a crisis, the inconsistency of messages across social media, how governments need to have a consistent message for the social wellbeing of citizens and result of misinformation as a grey zone action that results in destabilization and phycological impact on people.
There is increased awareness of the secondary impact trauma has on children, especially those with a parent diagnosed with Operational Stress Injuries (such as PTSD) from service-related experiences. While several treatment programs have been designed for caregivers, limited programs exist that support children/youth through the stressors connected to parental Operational Stress Injuries.
Today, joining us to talk about a program for kids who face this type of trauma is Dr. Helena Hawryluk.
In this episode of Vanguard Radio, we continue our series of supporting ill and injured Veterans, First Responders and their families.
Hear from Dr. Megan McElheran, a Clinical Psychologist with WGM Psychological Services in Calgary, AB. She completed her graduate training at the Stanford University clinical psychology consortium, during which she obtained specialized training in the treatment of PTSD through the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, CA. Dr. McElheran has been in practice in Calgary since 2008.
She also continues to focus her work with first responders, and her clinical practice involves work with active-duty members of the Canadian Forces, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, members of the Calgary Firefighter Department, medical personnel and others who are directly or vicariously impacted by traumatic events. She routinely engages in teaching and supervisory activity to ensure sound dissemination of empirically-grounded interventions for trauma.
She also works closely with Wounded Warriors Canada on their Before Operational Stress (BOS) program. BOS has been designed to provide Military, Police, Fire, Paramedic and Corrections officials with theoretical, practical and experiential learning to enhance their resilience and mental health as they continue to operate within their public service positions.
Hear more about this program, how you can participate in it, where and when the program is delivered and how it aligns with other services of Wounded Warriors Canada.
To support this program, sign up for Vanguard magazine. We have a partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada where a portion of all subscriptions is donated to help them with their various programs.