American Red Cross

1
American Red Cross

• Public Education on Planning for Health Needs
  Post-Disaster

2
American Red Cross

• ARC Neutrality
• ARC does not provide spiritual care.
• Spiritual Care is Partner-based.
• Spiritual Care is the responsibility of the local
  faith community.
• ARC Spiritual Care Response Team (SRT), a
  separate entity for critical response

3
American Red Cross

• A Brief History
• Valujet and TWA 800--1996
• Federal Aviation Family Assistance Act of 1996
• ARC designated to provide for emotional support
  and Memorial Service
• Partnered with professional chaplaincy
  organizations--APC, ACPE, NACC
• 16 Deployments including 9/11
• Expansion beyond aviation

4
American Red Cross

• Aviation Incident Response Team expands to
  Critical Response Team in 2003
• Aviation and other transportation disasters
• Mass Casualties
• Weapons of Mass Destruction/Terrorism
• By government request.

5
American Red Cross

• ARC Volunteer.
• ARC Partners.
• Liaison for the Association of Professional
  Chaplains
• Board Certified Chaplain

6
American Red Cross

• MOUs with
• American Association of Pastoral Counselors
• Association for Clinical Pastoral Education
• Association of Professional Chaplains
• International Conference of Police Chaplains
• National Association of Catholic Chaplains
• National Association of Jewish Chaplains

7
American Red Cross

• SRTs are managers, facilitators, and coordinators
  of appropriate spiritual care on disasters.
• SRTs mentor and empower local faith community

8
American Red Cross

• Disaster Response May Be the Social Action of Our
  Time
• Cold War
• War on Poverty
• War on Cancer

9
American Red Cross

• Primary Disaster Needs are Information and
  Reassurance

10
American Red Cross

• Am I safe?
• Is the event over?
• Are my family/loved ones safe?
• Are my pets/livestock safe?
• SAFE and WELL

11
American Red Cross

• Chaplain / Clergy
• Spiritual / Religious
• respect for all religious traditions as well as
  those who claim no tradition.

12
American Red Cross

• Katrina/Rita
• 80 BCCs partners sent by ARC in first four weeks
• 1500 fatalities
• lt5000 missing children
• Special needs populations
• Pre-existing conditions

13
American Red Cross

• ARC partnered with Salvation Army
• D-MORT St. Gabriels Parish
• ARC collaborated with HHS
• 9/11 Ritual with T-MORT and D-MORT

14
American Red Cross

• Disasters are emotional and spiritual traumas
• Kaiser Foundation-91 evacuees--primary coping
  through deep religious faith

15
American Red Cross

• Disaster Spiritual Care Professionals
• How does it feel?
• Resilience and Recovery
• Meaning of the Disaster?
• Source of Hope
• Source of Support
• Faith, Family, Government

16
American Red Cross

• Nobody Gets Over Anything

17
American Red Cross

• Terrorism
• War Disaster

18
American Red Cross

• Primary Emotion Grief
• Mourning for the Lost World (pre-Disaster)
• May use religious language
• Individual Why did this happen to me?
• Collective Why did this happen to my community?

19
American Red Cross

• Loss is Universal

20
American Red Cross

• Knowledge Lessens Anxiety

21
American Red Cross

• Disaster Spiritual Care Emerging Themes/Myths

22
American Red Cross

• Perception That No Extra Disaster Training is
  Necessary. Local Clergy Resistant to Training.
  Already Have All They Need

23
American Red Cross

• All Responders have the best interests of
  disaster clients/victims at heart.

24
American Red Cross

• We can continue working within our specialties,
  within our organizations, within our stovepipes
  in the new world climate and conduct business as
  usual.

25
American Red Cross

• Using a business model---disaster response as
  commodity---helps us reach the maximum number of
  clients quickly and economically, therefore,
  ensuring our continued success.

26
American Red Cross

• Tangibles are more important than intangibles.

27
American Red Cross

• Emotional Care is the same thing as Spiritual Care

28
American Red Cross

• Everyone knows what a chaplain does.
• Everyone knows what chaplaincy is.

29
American Red Cross

• Institutions cannot suffer post-traumatic
  stress
• Nations cannot suffer post-traumatic stress

30
American Red Cross

• Developing a disaster consciousness creates
  unneeded anxiety.

31
American Red Cross

• Bad things dont happen to good people.

32
American Red Cross

• Im the only one who can do my job.

33
American Red Cross

• They Need Me at Ground Zero.

34
American Red Cross

• Trauma does not accumulate.

35
American Red Cross

• It Cant Happen Here.

36
American Red Cross

• I can do this by myself.

37
American Red Cross

• Creating Partnerships is a sign of weakness.

38
American Red Cross

• Long Hours Help Build Character.

39
American Red Cross

• I Can Only Help People Like Myself.

40
American Red Cross

• I Know Whats Best for Other People.

41
American Red Cross

• Chaplains Arent Considered Health Care
  Professionals.

42
American Red Cross

• WMD/T Sites Arent Crime Scenes.

43
American Red Cross

• Early Intervention Produces Quicker Recovery
  Times.

44
American Red Cross

• Regression is bad.

45
American Red Cross

• Everyone Celebrates Anniversaries.

46
American Red Cross

• Its bad to talk about our experiences.

47
American Red Cross

• Our disaster culture builds in lots of process
  time.

48
American Red Cross

• There are fewer disasters today.

49
American Red Cross

• Disasters arent considered entertainment.

50
American Red Cross

• Everything Will Get Better.

51
American Red Cross

• CPE Students Dont Need Any Disaster Training.

52
American Red Cross

• Everyone knows what appropriate spiritual care is.

53
American Red Cross

• Due to the increasing intensity of disaster
  events, more people are leaving disaster work.

54
American Red Cross

• My institution has a disaster and/or continuity
  of operations plan.

55
American Red Cross

• My family has a disaster plan.

56
American Red Cross

• Sheltering in place is only a viable strategy
  for New York City and Washington, DC.

57
American Red Cross

• Only after an event occurs is it necessary to
  engage the religious community.
• After 5000 fatalities engage the religious
  community

58
American Red Cross

• Special needs populations---children, elderly,
  disabled---do not need disaster training.

59
American Red Cross

• Fear is a sign of weakness.

60
American Red Cross

• Changing my normal routine and canceling travel
  plans doesnt mean the terrorists are winning.

61
American Red Cross

• All volunteers are good.

62
American Red Cross

• Pets are not members of a family.

63
American Red Cross

• If something bad happens, help will come
  immediately.

64
American Red Cross

• Mass fatality events are history.

65
American Red Cross

• Everyone takes good care of children in a
  disaster.

66
American Red Cross

• Post Disaster Impacted by Pre-Disaster
  Pro-activity
• Disaster Training Makes a Difference
• Less Compassion Fatigue
• Less Burn-out
• Even rudimentary education
• Self Care
• Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 9/11
  Clergy Study

67
American Red Cross

• Continuing national conversation on disaster
  assistance
• What helps disaster clients immediately?
• Short term, Long term
• Expectation of Government Assistance, Leadership
• Pre-existing situations
• Limited help, resources available

68
American Red Cross

• John Rawls Theory of Justice
• Help Those Who Need It the Most, All Society
  Benefits
• Trickle Up
• Local Ownership, Local Empowerment
• Communities Devastated
• Communities Dispersed
• No One Gets Over Anything
• Lasting Mental and Spiritual Health Consequences
• Impacts Public Health Immensely

69
American Red Cross

• Listen
• Compassionate Presence
• Not alone
• Presence Implies Care
• Focus on Clients
• Focus on Diversity
• Advocacy and Sustainability
• Values are not neutral, may be political
• Expectation to do something

70
American Red Cross

• Invest in Preparedness
• Make a Plan
• Advocate for Training
• Educate Leadership on Cost of Not Doing
  Anything
• Identify Appropriate Partners who share same
  values, ethics
• Build Caring Relationships
• Preparedness is Good Business
• Mediate The Competition to Care

71
American Red Cross

• Engage Stakeholders Sooner
• Not after a mass fatality event
• Not after catastrophes destroy infrastructure
• Manage fear vs. building resilience
• Knowledge lessens anxiety AND
• Knowledge is power

72
American Red Cross

• Safety is paramount for volunteers and staff
• Knowledge may limit consequences of disaster
  event
• Keep out of harms way
• How to respond as well as when to respond safely

73
American Red Cross

• Contact Information
• Earl Johnson, Volunteer Partner/Coordinator
• American Red Cross Spiritual Care Response Team
  (SRT)
• 2025 E. St., NW
• Washington, DC 20006
• Earl Johnson, M.Div, BCC
• JohnsonEa_at_usa.redcross.org
• [phone]