CHEYENNE -A conference for first responders next week will revisit the Hurricane Katrina disaster and the lessons learned about linking victims to service, particularly crisis counseling.

Sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Disaster Mental Health Institute and its director, George Doherty, the conference deals with many of the necessary practice skills for various responders, ranging from emergency medical specialists to fire fighters and chaplains.

The conference titled, "Being There When It Counts," will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne.

A special feature is a seminar on a new program for Wyoming called "Give an Hour."

It asks mental health practitioners to spend one hour a week in person or by phone talking to returning veterans and their families.

Jamie Egolf, a psychotherapist in Laramie, will help conduct a seminar on specific treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Egolf said the veterans administration is having trouble seeing all the veterans with this disorder.

Other programs and workshops will deal with suicide factors, traumatic brain injury, adjustment to family and employment of returning military personnel, and threats of wildfire in a post-beetle kill forest.

A brochure and registration form for the conference are available at www.rmrinstitute.org/CYS-Brochure-2009.