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| There in a time of need Volunteers lend hand when tragedy strikes |
| By MARK SMITH At the scene of almost any tragedy -- a fatal car wreck, a suicide, a murder -- many of the usual emergency responders make an appearance. Police, the coroner, EMTs and paramedics, firefighters and doctors may answer a 911 call. Also likely to show up are unpaid volunteers who, time and again, do one thing: offer help to those who most need it in the wake of a tragedy and who often would otherwise be left alone and unaided. Thomas Burroughs said as a firefighter years ago in Virginia, he was taught about the 10 "frames " of a call, from the initial alarm tone to the moment when the trucks departed and were back in service. "The last thing you see, " he recalled, "is those people left standing there, and there's no one to do anything for them. " Burroughs, who lives near McCarran International Airport, is now a veteran volunteer with Trauma Intervention Programs Inc., or TIP, a group that helps people who otherwise might be left hanging, or what Burroughs called the 11th frame. And what Burroughs and several of his colleagues seem to share is a healthy lack of ego. They're not in this for themselves but for the victims. "You've got to have the basic drive and instinct and willingness to want to serve, " he said. "If you start putting 'I' into it, you're doomed. " The next training class for those who would like to pursue Burroughs' type of volunteerism begins on June 8, said Sherri Graves, crisis team manager and a TIP volunteer for eight years. The cost is $45 for the 55 hours of training. Ultimately, volunteers must be willing to commit to three 12-hour shifts each month, during which they will assist victims of a broad variety of emergency situations. "We do not expect the volunteer to be a professional in these situations, " said TIP founder Wayne Fortin, "but to provide basic emotional support, practical assistance and referral to professionals. This support is very important to the victims, but often, police officers and firefighters don't have the time to provide it. " Volunteers must be ages 16 and over and have a dependable vehicle. Six-year volunteer Tona Robinson said that oftentimes the situations to which volunteers respond are inherently confusing and tense, and sometimes the victims are barely aware of their surroundings, or they may be enraged at the loss of a loved one, or merely stunned by the enormity of a relative's death or injury. But TIP volunteers seem to make a difference to the distraught. "Their biggest response is thanking us for being there, " said Robinson, a retired banker who lives in the northwest section of Las Vegas. Burroughs, a Bechtel inspector at McCarran International Airport, said he estimates he has personally made at least 400 runs. Robinson said she has gone on 250 to 300 missions, and Dick Hofacker, who has been with the program for seven years, said he believes his record is about 275 or 300 runs. Hofacker, a real estate broker living in the eastern part of the city near Eastern and Sahara avenues, said there is a heavy attrition rate, with the average volunteer staying active for only six months to a year. Graves said the shifts can be punishing, and it's not unlikely for a volunteer to be called out four or five times during one shift. But as she put it, "I was a single mom when I started out, and I've done it. If you can do it, it's doable. " Burroughs said it is important for the volunteers to have a personal support system on which they can fall back. "We're all seeing horrific, terrible things, " he said. "We can go back home after a call and share some things. It means a lot to have that support resource. " Hofacker said other emergency responders welcome the volunteers, eager for their help when they show up at a fire or an attempted suicide. "Those police were doing what we're doing and they didn't have the time, " Hofacker said. "They're like the quarterback, " added Burroughs, "and they can hand off the ball. " Graves said North Las Vegas emergency responders are more and more likely to call TIP. "I've gotten a lot more calls from North Las Vegas, " Robinson said. "We're just citizens helping citizens -- that's our work. " "It's amazing that this program works, but it works, " said Graves, whose home east of McCarran International Airport serves as TIP's local headquarters. In fact, said Robinson, it might not work as efficiently if the TIP staff were paid. Instead of plugging away for a paycheck, the volunteers stick with it solely because they believe in what they do. "If they get burned out, they move along, " said Robinson. "You actually have to perform and produce, " said Burroughs. "You have to be involved. " Of, say, 30 volunteers who begin a class, as many as a third may be gone by graduation, and many others will pull out within the first six months. For each class, there is one instructor and two observers. The latter keep an eye on the trainees and help weed out those who are clearly out of their depth. When the training is over, the volunteers endure what might be called baptism by total immersion. "You're put on the street right away, " said Burroughs. "Role-playing can't do it, " Hofacker added. Several volunteers said getting a call and driving to the scene can be difficult. They play the radio along the way, distracting themselves so that, when they arrive, they can simply plunge right in. As Hofacker put it, "It's like a singer who does it for a living and still gets butterflies before he goes on. " "We have, right now, 45 volunteers, " said Graves. "I'd love to have 150. " Nationwide, no other TIP program experiences such a disparity between the number of annual calls for help and the number of available volunteers, said Hofacker. "We've got the most calls and the fewest volunteers, " he said. In Las Vegas in particular, said Graves, visitors from all over the world may die, and a wife or boyfriend suddenly is left alone in a place where they may not even speak the language. Even in terms of American visitors, the effort to help can be lengthy. "I actually sat up with a lady for 12 hours after her husband died, " said Hofacker, "waiting for a family member from West Virginia. " Robinson added, smiling slightly, "Her family knew she wasn't alone. " The worst calls involve the deaths of infants, said Robinson, or in Burroughs' view, any young people. "A child is not supposed to die, " he said. "When you're there when that death notification is made, it's horrible. " He said flexibility and a sure-footed sense of the situation is vital. "You have to be ready when you're on the scene, because things are changing constantly, " he said. "We have a saying in training: 'dancing with your partner.' They're going to lead and you've got to follow. " The volunteers admit it's difficult not to be personally effected, and Graves said they are careful to use only their first names when they help others. "You get people you've established such a bond with, " said Burroughs. In the event they again need help, she added, "They'll call up dispatch and want you personally to come out there. " After all is said and done, the volunteers don't get much for their work, aside from an annual dinner and a pat on the back from their peers. So why put in the effort and experience the emotional fallout from terrible situations? "It's knowing how you feel when you leave the clients, when you leave the scene, how many tears you cry, " said Hofacker. "There are certain songs I can't listen to, " admitted Burroughs, "because they'll bring back certain memories. I'll choke up or start to cry. " "You can't cry louder or longer than the client, " said Robinson. "But you can cry with them, " added Graves. Burroughs said most people have three lives -- the public one anyone can see, the personal one only good friends, partners and family members get to see, and the private life that becomes exposed only when stripped raw by loss and sorrow and shock. "Well, " Burroughs said quietly, "we see a lot of the private lives. " For more information, contact TIP at ***-**** or by visiting www.tipnational.org. |
| ***Printed on May 23, 2006 |
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