Texas LODD Task Force

Building a Support Structure

• When a tragedy occurs, there can never be too many helping hands, if you know where to place those helping hands.  If a department hasn’t made pre-arrangements with individuals or agencies that will help provide their services during a tragedy, if a tragedy should occur they would quickly become inundated by people offering to help.  With so many people wanting to offer assistance, it can be quite overwhelming on a department and it’s leaders.  In the confusion of everything that is going on with the incident, leaders often become confused on where exactly the help is needed.  They have the people there to help, they just don’t know where to send them.  Feelings of being overwhelmed take over and then the needed help is either not utilized or turned down.  Those that are offering their assistance can also feel like they are being ignored when they know there is problem that they can help alleviate.   Those on the outside looking in can often see a clearer picture of the needs that need to be met.  They aren’t as clouded by the emotions and stress that come with such a tragedy.
   

• You know you need to have the people there to help support your efforts at the time of loss.  You know there are needs that are going to need to be met.  So how do you make sure that the right people are there to help and the needs of your department are going to be met?  You prearrange for the services of those individuals or agencies.
   

• Let’s start off with the internal structure of your department.  Should a first responder die, these positions need to be activated by the Chief or other officer in charge:

• Chaplain or Clergy Coordinator

• Hospital Relations Coordinator

• Benefits Coordinator

• Family Coordinator

• Department Coordinator

• Funeral Coordinator

• Procession Coordinator

• Cemetery Coordinator

• The Legal Team

• The Investigation Team
   

• Make sure that you have appointed willing personnel for each of these positions before an event takes place.  A better idea is to appoint at least two individuals for each coordinator position if your department is large enough to do so. This assures that everyone will be available to fulfill these roles in the event of a death.  Make sure that the individual(s) that are selected for these positions are well educated on what their duties will be once they are activated.
   

• The two most important positions for the care of your department personnel will be the Chaplain(s) and the Department Coordinator.  These two sets of individuals will be working directly with the surviving members.  It’s a good idea to make sure that the individuals that hold these positions work well with people, have excellent communication skills, and work sufficiently under stress.
   

• The Department Coordinator is the individual that provides the members of the department with up to date information on funeral/memorial plans, as well as new information that comes from the investigation of the incident.  It is important that the members of your department are always being informed of any new developments.  This individual also coordinates the efforts for finding mutual aid if necessary, and finding fresh personnel should any personnel affected by the incident need to be relieved of duty. Under no circumstances should a person who has been directly affected by the loss of the first responder be ordered to stay either on the scene or at the department.  The Department Coordinator also should work closely with the Chaplain to ensure that proper psychological and spiritual care is offered.  This means that the Coordinator needs to alert the CISM team, and any therapists, counselors, or clergy have been called.
   

• The Chaplain is one of the department’s most vital resources in the care of the firefighter or police officer.  It is strongly encouraged that a department has a Chaplain on staff or as a volunteer.  These individuals are specially trained in the area of the emergency field and the issues that affect them.  The Chaplain is a spiritual advisor as a well as a counselor.  Their work with the first responders is priceless.  Trusting bonds are built with this individual and deep relationships develop over time.  If a Chaplain is already active in a department before a death occurs, the relationship with the personnel will already be there.  In the event of a death, firefighters are more likely to express their feelings and emotions and start the grieving process if they know the Chaplain.  If you have a larger department it’s wise to have a team of Chaplains available at all times, even if your department never experiences a loss.  If you are looking to add a chaplain to your department and are unsure of where to turn, please visit the Texas Corps of Fire Chaplains or the International Conference of Police Chaplains.
   

• Other Clergy should be available, if the need arises.  It is likely that your department is filled with individuals that come from varying religious backgrounds.  Therefore, a Rabbi will have a more difficult time offering spiritual assistance to a first responder who is Catholic.  Contact the different church denominations in your area and ask to speak with the leader or minister of the church.  Ask the leader if they could provide a clergy member from their church to be available to assist the first responders in the event of a death or serious injury.  If they are able to provide someone, obtain the necessary contact information.
   

• Councelors and Therapists also need to have pre-arrangements made for their services.  Find therapists that specialize in trauma, PTSD, and family care.  You can find psychologists in your area by calling the American Psychological Association’s referral hotline. Call 1-800-964-2000. The operator will use your zip code to locate and connect you with the referral system in your area.  When you locate a psychologist, ask about fees and ask if they do pro-bono work during emergency situations.  Also ask if they or someone else in their practice would be available to contact at any time.
   

• CISM or Critical Incident Stress Management is a team that is made up of individuals who are trained to work with emergency workers affected by traumatic situations.  Many of these individuals are fellow first responders .  There are also chaplains and councilors that make up the structure of the team.  They are on call 24 hours per day.  Their primary duties are to hold a debriefing session where members talk about the traumatic incident.  It is a good idea to wait at least two to three days after the event before scheduling the debriefing sessions.  Don’t schedule the session after a visitation, funeral, or memorial service.  Never schedule a session the same day as an incident.  Care should be give to the members of the department by the chaplains, clergy members, and therapists during the first twenty-four hours.  Make it mandatory for all members that were on the scene where the death took place, to attend the sessions. Also schedule debriefing sessions for three months, six months, and one year after the incident.
   

• Food Service Businesses need to be contacted and asked that their services be made available during an incident.  Pizza and sandwich shops, fast food restaurants can have food sent to the scene, the departments, or to the family.  This is especially important at scenes where victim recovery will take a while.  Sometimes body recovery can take days.  Members have been known to stay on the scene until the body has been removed.  Having refreshments available to the crews that are working or the individuals that are assisting the department members will not only help quell hunger but help boost what morale they do have.
   

• Super Stores like Wal-Mart or K-Mart should be contacted as well.  In the event of an incident that requires crew members to stay on scene for long periods of time, these stores can provide necessities such as blankets, tooth paste, toothbrushes, snacks, even clothing.  They can supply needed items to your department.
   

• Agencies like the Red Cross can assist on scene doing rehab for the first responders.  They can set up staging areas for the emergency services personnel to rest.  During hot weather, the Red Cross has been known to call the local metro system to borrow a bus to place on the scene.  The bus was air-conditioned and was a wonderful relief to the crews.  The Red Cross has a vast amount of resources available that can assist in the care of department personnel.
   

• Having contacts in all of these areas available, creates a strong support system for your department.  If an a death should occur, you won’t need to waste valuable time searching for the right people to help in the right places.  Instead, you can pull out your contact list and start making the phone calls and assigning duties or expressing your needs for those certain individuals.  The Department Coordinator can make the phone calls to the contacts on the list.  It is important that the contacts be made soon after the department learns of the death, if possible within a couple of hours. 
   

• Make sure that the list is updated every six months to a year.  Management in businesses change, clergy members move on to different churches, and organizations have been known to change their phone numbers.  The list becomes a hassle if the contacts are no longer available.

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