The after-effects of a disaster
 

Mentioned on another thread yday how 3 Carnival cruise ships had been chartered by the US Givt to provide temporary accommodation and decent shelter, food, etc. Seems that the company and comradery that places like the Superdome generate are preferred. Goes to show what is more important to the humans suffering - a sense of identity and purpose leads over better conditions:

I, myself, would be reluctant to get on a cruise ship in the gulf with several more named storms already formed ...

They have also apparently had trouble getting people to leave the Astrodome as they feel they have a better chance of reconnecting with their families if they stay closer to the area.

What would they have you doing, professionally, if you were called to assist these people? What really are the most important things these people must be provided for such an event? Are there mental exercises or physical activities one should perform to restore equilibrium? Will that many require medication? Or is it mostly filtering the few who really have problems from a more resilient majority?

I think you are right Wolf, plus there are other reasons as well, such as the thought of being moved again and back towards the area that has caused you the problems, and then there is the common bond that will have been struck between 'neighbours' at the Dome.

When I first read the news that cruise ships were to be offered I thought that everyone would be jumping at the chance to have a proper bed with washing facilities and also regular quality food and care, but that was the calm thinking of someone who has not been so traumatically affected by events. Who can gauge the reaction of the victims, and how exhausted both mentally and physically they are. Decisions they make and take will be on a totally different basis.

The majority of people affected by a disaster are actually pretty resilient. Meet their basic needs for safety, food, water, and shelter, and they do well. It's unlikely that folks who didn't need medications before the hurricane struck will need them in the aftermath. It's mostly about supportive counselling, in some cases specialized grief counselling, and doing things that will normalize the experience for them. Understanding stress reactions actually does a lot to help people through such experiences. Dealing with a natural disaster is actually easier than a terrorist event, but even that has it's own challenges. Lots of folks have a significant crisis of faith under these circumstances, but that's why we have Chaplains on the team who are specifically trained in disaster response. (A lot of well-meaning, untrained preachers say a lot of dumb things in the face of something like this ... particularly given that it was Gomorrah on the Gulf that got wiped off the face of the Earth.)

It's pretty basic stuff as far as crisis services goes ...

One of the biggest tools that are at "our" disposal is the distribution of information. Not knowing what's going on breeds fear and uncertainty. There's a segment of what I do called a "Crisis Management Briefing" which gives accurate factual information about the event, as well as education on expected reactions ... basically teaching people that they are having NORMAL reactions of a NORMAL person who has been exposed to an ABNORMAL event.

The training I have was originally developed for use with emergency services personnel. It includes "pre-incident education" (knowing about this stuff going in can help you deal with your reactions), "demobilization" (talking to people as they are coming off a duty shift or off a disaster ground), "defusing" (a structured group discussion within 24 hours of the event, talking over what happened, but prepping people for what they might likely experience) and "debriefing" (also a structured group discussion that focuses on more on what they have been thinking/feeling since the event).

There are other segments that deal with children families of the emergency service workers, as well as spiritual support.

The same process can also be used for civilians.

Right now I don't know at which point I might be called in for assistance, but am prepared to go down South if my team is requested to do so.

I suppose it does come down to the basics when you think of it - get the fundamental needs satisfied and that must do a lot to influence a person's thoughts about where he is best off. The cruise ships under such circumstances would represent an unknown compared to what may have been achieved/received so far and instead of providing extra security as the authorities expect the choice for the individual isn't so clear-cut as he would be removed from the present comfort zone and that isn't going to be attractive.

Do wonder where this will all end. Last night's news on UK TV concentarted on the massive pollution in the area - water mixed with harmful chemicals, rotting food, corpses, sewage, etc, causing the whole area to need to be evacuated and a first estimate of at keast 3 months to clear up. Add to that, this morning we heard that 25,000 body bags were being sent to the area - irrespective of the current number of assessed fatalities. Really leaves you with heavy mixed emotions at the scale of the disaster.

I am rather surprised in that list of actions, that psychological triage does not appear to be part of the process. I would have expected 'psychological triage' to be implemented as part of a system when disasters were large. Or is such triage really inherent in the response?

If you tell people that they are going to a psychological triage station, or that there are psychologists or mental health people or something like that, they tend to head very quickly in the other direction.

We do that, but we're sneaky about it.

In addition to "normalizing the experience" we are on the lookout for signs and symptoms of something more going on.

This link is a friend of a friend's house after the flood in Mississippi. It doesn't look that bad at first glance but the water was almost up to the roof so the drywall is toast and the mold is rampant. It's funny the fences are almost intact but the washer and dryer moved around inside the house. :(

Was this the result of storm surge flooding? My god, what a mess. The fact that their houses are still standing and essentially intact belies the destruction, because the molds will make their homes uninhabitable. They'll have to be gutted, sterilized, and refitted.

This says alot!!!

http://rense.com/1.imagesH/thedead.jpg

BigW00dy---I've seen people like that in the ED of our local hospital. Really.

I wonder how many of those folks are suffering from PTSD? They went through literally hell for 6 days and are now displaced refugees. I have a friend who is black and her husband is in the military with orders for Iraq on October 22nd. She said to me, "Hell, yes, I'm playing the "race card" only its not a game. Facts are facts. The majority of people we saw on TV were poor black folks. I saw on TV where they called black people getting food from a store as looting, then later on they showed white folks doing the same thing and called it "finding" food. I wonder what my husband is going to Iraq to fight for, I really do."

Can't say as I blame her for feeling as she does.

This link is to almost 200 photos by an employee of a French Quarter hotel in New Orleans. They are captioned to tell his story of the storm and how the city went to hell but not until a couple days after the storm passed. Very interesting. :mg:

I'll let you know in six months to a year.

Other than the ones that had PTSD before the storm hit, of course.

Let's not force these people to believe they have a condition now.

Some will have problems and some won't, but if you start telling them that they are having problems when they don't then you aren't doing them any good.

Agreed, there is a percentage of the population that can be talked into neurosis. ;)

I got word today that we now have a tentative deployment date for going down South. Folks are still being picked from the available pool, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be going for this activation, or one in the future. I'll likely know more after the team meets tonight.

I do know that one of the likely people to go does not like to fly (the last time she got on a plane it landed in Iraq for Desert Storm), but it may only be commercial flights she doesn't like.

Plthijnx ... Hypothetically, if one were to charter a plane to pick 4-6 people up outside of Philadelphia, say here to be flown down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a return trip 72 hours later ... how much might that end up costing? (just to compare against the cost of purchase of tickets on a commercial carrier without being able to book significantly in advance, and probably not staying over a weekend).

We're hoping for reimbursment, but not counting on it.

Let me know if any of you make it into the area and I'll try to see about habitation arrangements.

They can be a bit problematic right now.

That's what I hear ... the last notice we got said something about "sleeping on bedrolls" "portapotties" and "MREs".

I live about an hour outside of Baton Rouge so something may be do-able.

Wow! That is so cool!!

How many people are we talking about?

4-6. I don't have exact dates or numbers yet. We are having a meeting tonight that hopefully will clarify some of this. They may have better accommodations by the time we get there, which should be in about a week and a half.

Just let me know when it starts to look like a probability and we'll see what crops up.

[quote=xoxoxoBruce]This link [quote]

that album has been moved...

What? Where? Who? How?
The link I posted in post #9 still works.
What moved? :question:

I believe Labrat is referring to the link you posted in #14. That set of photographs has been removed. Interesting... :mg:

Not to be a nit-picking nuisance, but did she take a boat back? ;)

She wanted to, but apparently, despite the fact that she was in the Navy, they didn't have any.

I talked to her tonight. She said that on the way TO Kuwait she was sure she was going to die, so the plane ride wasn't as big a deal as it normally would be for her. On the way home, she had a more hopeful outlook. But not about flying. So she took a near overdose of valium.

We came up with a solution.

She's going to be Thelma, I'm going to be Louise.

We're hoping to get a vehicle loaned by a fire company or ambulance service. The train would be an option, but the closest we would be able to get is about 250 miles outside of Baton Rouge.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the details, but I am going to take the opportunity to purchase some new BDU pants at the gun show this weekend.

I have a crankable lantern and radio you can borrow. I also have a candlelier 3 candle lantern.

You're also welcome to borrow the Red Devil grill if you want. It has more cooking area than a camp stove.

When they pass out the MREs, grab all the brownies you can. When you open them they SPARKLE like the 7 Dwarf's diamond mine.
I swear..... it's beautiful. :mg:

I haven't heard one word about the Cajuns out in the swamps? :question:

A coonass can survive nearly anything. I dated one for a while. They're prolly making a party out of it. Very high spirited and positive folks. And the women are usually VERY SEXY. Whew... I better not go there..... ;)

Amtrak is running through Hammond now, and had you thought about having plthijinx pick you up and I'll meet you at HDC?

We've worked through a bunch of permutations ... and came up with driving as the best option (I did see that AMTRAK was now running into Hammond, but that leaves us still needing a vehicle there). Also to get to Hammond means Phila-NY-Chicago-Hammond, and the ability to carry less gear.

Please be careful down there...and say hi to Dubya for me.

We are go for the deployment ... which now may be three days, or five days. I don't know if I'll have any kind of internet access down there, but intend to keep a journal and to take as many pictures as possible. I'm trying to decide whether to take the digital camera, which needs some level of babysitting, or just get a bunch of disposable cameras and get photoCDs from the developer. I have a wee bit of time to get that figured out before we leave (probably on Thursday).

Our accomodations are rumored to be some kind of "air conditioned tent city" and since we'll be working with emergency services folks coming off the disaster areas, won't be anyplace involving mud, muck, or water. Well, there might be some water involvement ... some of the housing is supposed to be on a cruise ship. We'll be working under FEMA's auspices.

So you'll be checking the emergency services folks to make sure their heads are still screwed on tight? :rollhappy

Yep. And loosening them if they're on too tight.

I've already re-packed twice, and I'm not supposed to be leaving until Thursday ... I'm good at being prepared for all eventualities, but not very good at being prepared for all eventualities that can fit in one moderately sized duffle bag (I haven't actually been limited on the amount of stuff I can bring, but I'm trying to deal with my natural tendency to overpack).

And after all of this, you know I'll forget my toothbrush ...

Take LOTS of Bug dope , oh and those bdu's that you are buying , make them blue or black or sum such , NOT camo , if it is even REMOTLY a Millatary camp you CAN'T wear camo unless you are millatary !!!!!!!
Oh and if it IS a millatary operation DON'T think you have the RIGHT to do and go where you want , they AIN'T used to that !!!

Good luck , god(s) speed , and stay SANE for your and ALL of our sakes !!!

Any idea how long you will be down there? If you have a postal address down there, let us know it.

Somewhere between zero, three, and five days.

I have been told all three in the last week.

(I didn't buy any camo BDUs, stuck with the solids for this trip. Woodland makes my ass look bigger.)

PM me if you want my cell number in case you need anything.

Make that zero ...

We heard today (Monday) around 4PM that our deployment to Louisiana is cancelled.

On the one hand, I was very prepared, both mentally and in terms of having my packing done, to go. (I actually accept responsibility for the Stand Down Order, on the logic that like only getting a snowday from school if you've studied for the test, we don't get to go because I, the mistress procrastinator, was ready to be out the door at a moment's notice!!)

On the other hand, Louisiana may have a visit from Hurricane Rita, so it's likely for the best.

The Louisiana State CISM coordinator was very impressed with my team's willingess to come down to help out, so in the sense of our reputation, a lot of good was accomplished, and the option is open for them to request us later on down the line, should a need arise.

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, and offers of support!!

I'm very glad that you are going be home safe and sound, Wolf. Sorry you didn't get to practice your skills, but the way the world is going right now, you'll probably be doing disaster trauma intervention full time before long. Sigh... :headshake

did they cancell because of Rita? i'm stocking up on the necessities tonight - Heineken and Ice to keep it cold! oh, yeah, i guess i ought to buy a package of birthday candles too.

Rita was not specifically mentioned, but I was watching that and the other two storms that formed with a fair degree of concern.

I'm going for more training (from PEMA again) in October. There is more than one way to keep the skills fresh ...

I hadn't realized Rita was coming anywhere near me until just yesterday, when my boss sent out an email regarding where to call if it looks like we might not make it into work on Monday. He said Galveston is already being partially evacuated. WTF?! This is the first I've heard of it. No offense, but I hope you don't have a reason to come visit my neck of the woods, wolf. :)

there is a Mandatory evac for Galveston and Galveston county and it is suggested that Harris, Ft. Bend and surrounding counties evac. it goes without saying that if they are in a coastal area county to get the F out.

oh yeah....

1. Be careful.
2. Be safe.
3. Survive.
4. Help others in danger.
5. Take lots of pictures.

1. you bet.
2. i will.
3. i hope to.
4. i'll give the shirt off my back.
5. way ahead of you, starting a thread tonight with benchmark photos.

interesting point on the evac: 12 hours from Galveston to Huntsville on I-45

...plthijinx.......

You taking the car or the plane?

Pity those poor refugees from New Orleans Superdome, moved to Houston's Astro Dome, only to end up in another Category 4+ hurricane. Tell them to not worry. Bad things only happen in threes. That means they still have to be alive for the third event.

cap- plane's oh and we lost our aerostar tonight. the half owner crashed the SOB on takeoff. i could bitch but i'm too fucking tired. fucker just bought a 180,000 dollar plane.

tw-right. it'd've been nice if they didn't bring the carma with them.

There wouldn't be some guy names Earl among them?