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| Trauma volunteers help people in times of crisis |
| By Joan Patterson Joseph Planck has seen his share of tragedy as a 17-year member of the Clark County Fire Department. It hasn't stopped him from volunteering for a program that serves those in the midst of crisis. Planck is one of the newest members of the Trauma Intervention Program Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides emotional support for victims of incidents such as fires or serious crime. Volunteers are called by police and fire departments, hospitals and emergency medical technicians when victims need additional assistance, said Marian Thomas, director of the local trauma program. "What we do is emotional first aid," she said. Planck, a captain with the Clark County Fire Department, has counseled firefighters as a volunteer for the Employees Assistance Program but was not trained to help victims. The turning point came in February when he was asked to help a family that had just lost two children in a fire. "It just devastated me. I can deal with firefighters but I was just devastated," Planck said. "This was different because I'd never sat with someone who had lost everything. I felt so helpless. You hold their hands and let them cry. You're just speechless." The event was so unforgettable Planck decided to join the trauma program and learn how to help more victims, he said. Each volunteer receives 55 hours of crisis intervention training, Thomas noted. There are currently 57 Trauma Intervention Program volunteers in Southern Nevada responding to about 60 calls a month, she said. The Southern Nevada chapter is 3 years old, Thomas said. It provides assistance to Las Vegas, Henderson and Clark County. The county just adopted the program this summer so there is still a need for more volunteers, Thomas added. The assistance volunteers provide include calling relatives, getting information from doctors and nurses, acting as liaisons with the media or just holding victims' hands, Thomas said. Linda Fetters, who became a trauma program volunteer in 1995, has responded to drive-by shootings and infant deaths. A former critical-care nurse, she said trauma volunteers have to remain calm and levelheaded, while at the same time providing emotional assistance even if it's just listening to the victims. "(Before the trauma training) I didn't know what to say, when to say it, and what not to say," said Fetters, who is also a national Trauma Intervention Program trainer. "As a nurse you are so involved in the physical aspect of a patient. "I've learned that emotional crises have no religious, ethnic, language, any kind of barrier. That people are the same wherever they are." Nationally, there are 15 Trauma Intervention Program chapters with about 700 volunteers, said Wayne Fortin, founder of the organization, and a licensed marriage and family counselor in San Diego. Fortin started the program in San Diego 12 years ago after hearing distressed victims talk about the lack of immediate help. "When bad things happen to people and they come to therapists, after talking about the incident ... they also talk about the experience of not being cared for properly at the scene or being reinjured by the system," Fortin said. "We felt at the time, and still feel, people didn't get the support they needed immediately after a traumatic event. We're not critical of the emergency system at all. That's the nature of the system." Volunteers are not just helping the victims, Fortin added. They also help emergency workers cope with the stress of leaving victims behind. Each emergency worker is asked to fill out a response card evaluating a trauma volunteer's performance, Fortin said. A frequent comment is the feeling of relief knowing victims are getting help after they leave. "What you have is (emergency personnel) responding during a very routine day. This may be the third heart attack in the day for the paramedics but this is the most traumatic event in (the victims') lives." Planck's first trauma volunteer call was 10 days ago. A woman needed help at a local hospital coping with the sudden death of her 33-year-old boyfriend. Planck, a stout man with thick hands and pale blue eyes, introduced himself to the woman and asked her if there was anything she needed. As he knelt in front of her, the woman cried and talked about her boyfriend as family members looked on. Later, standing in a hospital corridor, Planck talked about the members of his family who think he's crazy for joining the Trauma Intervention Program. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not easy, but they need you," he said. Those interested in becoming a Trauma Intervention Program volunteer can call ***-****. |
| ***Printed on September 09, 1997 |
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