Being There When It Counts" is what Disaster Mental Health Services (DMHS) teams try hardest to achieve before, during and following disasters, critical incidents, crises, and terrorist activities. Although a relatively new field, these teams have quickly become an integral part of disaster and critical incident preparedness, mitigation, response, and follow‐up. DMHS began with Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Critical Incident Stress Management. In order to continue to grow and meet identified needs, both continued development as well as focused research. Research will help identify how Mental Health Services can best be utilized as well as how relevant changes need to be made in practice. Networking and sharing experiences can also help develop resources. The 8th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference was held Nov. 7‐9, 2009 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This volume highlights key papers from presenters.Learn more at