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Red Cross Program Offers Emotional Support to Disaster Survivors
Arnesa A. Howell, Special to Redcross.org
Monday, September 26, 2005 — As the Gulf Coast braced physically for Hurricane Rita this weekend, American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health worker Dawn Harris prepared for the emotional impact that a second major hurricane to hit the area in recent weeks would have on the thousands of evacuees pouring into Little Rock, Ark., to escape the storm.
“We try to have mental health workers on hand because as people start to talk about their losses, they can get upset. And sometimes, they get discouraged and angry,” said Harris, a trained psychologist volunteering in Little Rock with the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health program, which is activated in response to disasters to provide emotional support to victims from tragedy-stricken areas.
As Arkansas opened its doors and hearts to evacuees from Houston, Harris indicated that she was expecting to talk to even more people suffering from stomach aches, headaches, nightmares and other physical symptoms of acute stress from their traumatic experiences with the hurricanes.
“People are having nightmares about running with their kids to get from the [rising] flood waters and are waking up in a sweat,” said Harris, who has spent the weeks since Hurricane Katrina talking to victims at local Red Cross service centers and shelters. She has been there to assure them that a crisis reaction is “a normal reaction to an abnormal event.” In cases where volunteers recognize victims need more intensive treatment or long-term emotional support, survivors are referred to community programs for mental health care services.
Launched after Hurricane Hugo hit the South Carolina coast in 1989, the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health program originated as a way to offer much-needed emotional support to Red Cross workers in the field. It has since grown into a farther-reaching program that helps disaster victims as well. Red Cross mental health volunteers take time to listen to clients, provide crisis intervention services and offer referrals to community-based resources to help victims get back on their feet.
More than 1,200 licensed mental health experts—including counselors, social workers and volunteer nurses—have been recruited by the Red Cross from professional organizations, and then assigned throughout Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, according to Bob Hayes, a psychologist with the Red Cross program. More than 344,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors already have utilized these services, speaking with trained volunteer professionals.
“With Katrina, so many people relocated from their home area and changed homes, schools, friends, and have given up everything that was familiar to them,” said Hayes. For those victims that stayed behind—witnessing death, homes destroyed by floodwaters, and the grief of friends and family—the affects can be overwhelming.
Such devastating, life-altering events can easily cause serious stress and emotional trauma. These mental health workers are in the shelters and service centers and even go out into some of the hardest-hit areas to offer words of comfort to victims, who want and need to talk about their feelings and experiences. Through the program, evacuees are being offered what the Red Cross calls “psychological first aid.”
Walking around and talking to people in affected areas and shelters is an important part of the crisis intervention services offered under the Red Cross disaster response program, according to Hayes. He indicated that a simple, “How’s it going today?” may be the opening a victim needs to start a dialogue that enables a mental health volunteer to make sure the person is handling life as best as possible.
Erin Jones, the supervisor of mental health at the Baton Rouge River Center in Louisiana, regularly walks the floor of the shelter looking for residents showing visible signs of stress, trauma or depression. As a disaster mental health volunteer, she frequently goes up to clients who are lying down on their cots to chat and check on how they are doing.
Through the Red Cross, these evacuees receive not only food, shelter and clothing—they are given the information and resources needed to help regain control of their lives.
“We are providing a safe place after the crisis and helping [survivors] get on a normal schedule although they are not at home, helping with reunification with family and trying to empower them,” said Jones, who came from New Jersey to help Katrina victims.
While support and guidance are offered to all family members displaced by disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, special attention is given to the youngest victims. Depending on age, children involved in catastrophic events may not always be able to clearly articulate their fears and anxieties. In these cases, mental health workers might encourage expressions through drawing, coloring or play. Also, they let parents know that children oftentimes get their cues about reactions to traumatic events from them.
“Kids are very resilient, but they are going to be as resilient as their parents. If the parents are hopeful, then the children are hopeful,” explained Jones, adding that many younger children, ages 2 to 8, think they’re at camp and are happy.
Volunteers are trained to deal with the full spectrum of emotions.
As Hurricane Rita made landfall along the Texas-Louisiana border early Saturday morning, volunteers dealt with another wave of evacuees rushed into the shelters. In the aftermath of another destructive hurricane, mental health volunteers continue to provide support to those in need, 24 hours a day.
The job is not easy— offering emotional support to those who have lost family members, pets, homes and in many cases all their personal belongings—but it is one Red Cross mental health workers and volunteers have taken on tirelessly as it is a critical step in helping victims transition to recovery.
Arnesa A. Howell is a free-lance journalist working with the American Red Cross at their national quarters in Washington, D.C.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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