Drowning Support Network

[Shawn]

Drowning Support Network

The link for the Drowning Support Network is:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrowningSupportNetwork

All are welcome to join and participate in this online peer support group for those who have lost loved ones in incidents involving drowning, including when the mission to recover the remains has been prolonged, complicated, or ultimately unsuccessful...

Thank you,

Nancy Rigg

Moderator

_________________________________________________________________

Complete vs. Incomplete Rescue (excerpt **)

When people think of "rescue" and "recovery" efforts, the focus is usually on the "primary" victim, where the physical, life-preserving aspects of medical trauma intervention is the key focus. If there is loss of life, the focus turns to the recovery of the victim's remains. In the aquatic environment this can be a prolonged, complex, and often unsuccessful mission.

"Secondary" victims include family members and friends of the primary victims, those who witness traumatic events involving drownings, whether or not they know the victim personally, as well as search and rescue and recovery personnel.

Although the initial focus must be on the physical issues of rescue and recovery, issues related to the psychological trauma that stems from an extreme event like a drowning also need to be addressed in order to mitigate the development of long-term, negative health consequences. Without addressing the psychological trauma, an "incomplete" rescue is the result.

Contrary to "popular" opinion, posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) may occur at a shockingly high prevalence (Mitchell and Everly 1993). Norman and Getek (1988) have estimated that nearly one-half of all patients admitted to urban trauma centers are likely to suffer from PTSD, in addition to their physical trauma, while another third may suffer from a milder variant of posttraumatic stress.

It has been argued by Brett and Ostroff (1985) that PTSD is generally underreported and underdiagnosed. One reason may be that patients are sometimes hesitant to report on, or unable to recognize psychological issues surrounding traumatic events. In addition, PTSD may be masked by, overlap, or mimic other disorders, including drug or alcohol abuse. Health care workers may also lack the training necessary to properly diagnose and treat PTSD.

Even the term "disorder" can be confusing and stigmatizing, causing victims to avoid or deny their reactions. As Lifton (1973) and Lifton and Olson (1976) remind us: PTSD is a normal adaptive process to an abnormal situation. If the threat or trauma is sufficiently great, it can produce a traumatic syndrome in everyone.

The "good" news is that through education and awareness, many normal posttraumatic stress injuries can heal with time and mindful attention. But if the psychological trauma is not attended to, it can compound the normal grieving process in those who have lost loved ones, it can end the careers of those in emergency services and other disaster response and outreach careers, and it can literally consume an individual's life, causing life-long, chronic health problems.

Peer support is one way to gain information and awareness about the potential impact that exposure to extreme trauma can have on someone, especially when compounded by the profound personal loss of a loved one. The Drowning Support Network is available to everyone who has been involved in a drowning accident, flash flood, or other major aquatic tragedy.

** Scott, R.T., Rigg, N. and Contreras, L. 1994. Beyond Rescue: The Psychodynamics of Complete Rescue. Response, 13(3): 16-24.

[Shawn]

Drowning Support Network

The link for the Drowning Support Network is:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrowningSupportNetwork

All are welcome to join and participate in this online peer support group for those who have lost loved ones in incidents involving drowning, including when the mission to recover the remains has been prolonged, complicated, or ultimately unsuccessful...

Thank you,

Nancy Rigg

Moderator

_________________________________________________________________

Complete vs. Incomplete Rescue (excerpt **)

To read the complete article please click on the link below:

http://www.shawnalladio.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60

[george]

Traumatised survivors at risk of suicide

PHUKET: Survivors of last week's deadly tsunamis are at risk of becoming suicidal or developing other serious neuroses as they grapple with the guilt of having lived while others died, mental health experts say.

"There is a suicide risk. After a while, a traumatic neurosis could appear that could lead to suicide," said Jean-Michel Coq, a psychologist with a French medical unit in Phuket, where hundreds were killed.

His colleague Toufik Selma cautioned though that while "suicide was a possibility, it is something rare".

Faced with the type of catastrophe unleashed across the region on December 26, "there is always a core group of six to eight per cent of people who will develop a traumatic neurosis leading, eventually, to suicide," he said.

Thai psychiatrists and psychologists warned in the Bangkok Post daily on Monday of an elevated suicide risk among 800 survivors they had examined in two of the provinces that suffered the most deaths, Phuket and Phang Nga.

The magnitude of the disaster – which has left nearly 5,200 dead and more than 3,800 missing in Thailand – is without precedent.

"You cannot compare it with anything else because it is on such a large scale," said a British psychologist volunteering in Phuket, Frederik Jurriaanse.

"In France, we do simulations for our training. We never imagined working on a tsunami," said Joel Clero, an official with the French team here.

The specialists have listened to the stories of about one hundred people who survived the disaster or lost loved ones.

The symptoms they have detected are well known but have never been seen before in a similar context, they say.

--AFP 2005-01-04

[Shawn]

Traumatised survivors at risk of suicide

George,

Thank you for posting this very important information!

The Drowning Support Network is a peer support group of loved ones who are in the process of recovery from loss, or in search of loved ones remains. This group does not have any fees associated with it, and is offered online, a valuable resource for those in need.

It is very important for viewers to understand that the images on the internet are those of loved ones, lost, injured or missing, who need to be respected with dignity, and not shared for curiosity.

This can become one more piece of content that can affect a loved one in their search. Although it is understandable that we as viewers have all be subjected to witnessing the loss of life, and are all affected in various ways emotionally and are in our own way looking for ways to connect and share our sorrow.

Just remember that, the families have a tremendous burden on their shoulders, their lives have been altered forever.

There are also other needs to consider for viewers and the victims and their loved ones, the cultural and spiritual aspects. This tragedy has crossed many borders, many nations, races and age groups. It has global impact, and while the families are in progress with their first step in a long journey, it is important to listen to their concerns and responses without judgement.

Many cultures do not favor speaking about feelings, or emotions, and many have lost everything they loved and owned. These people are extremely vulnerable as reality and time passes. Their privacy needs to be respected in terms of sharing photo images that are not necessarily supporting closure for their searches.

Support groups are an invaluable step towards the life long process of recovery, if you have any concerns or questions, you can email privately.

Respectively,

Shawn Alladio

K38 Water Safety

Nancy Rigg-Moderator of The Drowning Support Network

[email protected]

Edited January 4, 2005 by Shawn

[Shawn]

Surfers and Loved Ones Support Tsunami Victims

The world has recently born witness to a horrific natural event that has resulted in many tragic stories, losses and equally significant needs. As the New Year was wrung in, humanity traditionally celebrates the hopes and resolutions for the new year. Instead the Nations of the World were grieving and coming to terms with the magnitude of the situation.

We have all been affected by the visual and graphic exposure on the news, or by people we know who are recovering from this tragedy. A Community Heart, is an opportunity for us to come together and heal, and to show the world we care as a body, a community that has a voice and a willingness to help others in their time of need.

This natural catastophe has global implications, all nations were affected. The initial surge has passed and now it's time to dig in and go to work, please join us as a family of man, with no borders, or prejudice, and keep hope burning for those who have lost everything in their world.

Photo: David Pu'u - Jon Rose, Maldives

This is being organized through the efforts of Theresa Smith and her brother Paul, (surf-pro Davey Smith's wife). Please join them and our friends on Sunday January the 9th in Santa Barbara!

________________________

A COMMUNITY HEART-ALL ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE!

Calling for 3000 people, surfers, families, friends and colleagues to arrive at the Santa Barbara City College stadium- bring red AND white t-shirts!

At the stadium seating, we are going to form a huge human red heart with a white border.

Globes will be passed around, on behalf of soliciting donations. Donations will be placed inside the globes, with as little or as much as donors desire.

Donation go directly towards: Direct Relief International.

http://www.directrelief.org

WHAT:

A heart constructed from 3000 plus people at Santa Barbara City College Stadium. Calling out all surfers to join us in paying respect and showing unity for a valuable cause!

WHY:

To raise funds and spread goodwill for the stricken victims of the tsunamis in India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Thailand.. Funds will be donated to Direct Relief International based in Goleta, CA.

WHEN:

Sunday, January 9 at 2:00 P.M.

Please be sure you arrive 30 minutes early for staging.

WHERE:

Santa Barbara City College Football Stadium

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING:

Red AND white t-shirts and a donation. As little or as much as you want. Or just come and share your spirit!

WHERE YOU SHOULD PARK:

PLEASE CARPOOL to the event as parking is limited. The city college lots are available, as well as the west campus lot near Garvin Theater.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER:

We will need 80 people. UCSB community affairs board has just volunteered 40 people! We'll need ushers, taggers (to help Paul form the heart), parking lot attendants, etc. We ask that you call or email us and let us know, and arrive at the stadium at 12:00 noon on Sunday, Jan. 9.

We have had an outpouring of generosity and encouragement-- from our friends, our local press, and business owners and service groups.

And we still need your help as well!

How the idea came about:

My brother Paul and I were sitting on our parent's couch two days after Christmas watching the tsunami news broadcasts. We decided to do something personally to make a difference for the people suffering from the tsunami that destroyed millions of lives. We reminisced back to 9/11- both of us participated in Matt McCallister's American Flag at the stadium, and thus the idea of the 'Community Heart' came about.

We truly hope to see you there!

Thank you from our hearts,

Theresa Smith and Paul Piacentini

E-mail contact: [email protected]

Posted: http://www.shawnalladio.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=69

_____________________________________________

[Shawn]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/bereavement/psych_sudden.shtml

Coping with grief - Bereavement

Sudden and unexpected death

by Dr Ann Dent

When someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly, family and friends are often left extremely shocked with no opportunity to say goodbye and possibly unfinished emotional business to complete.

Shock may last for several days or longer and is nature's way of protecting you initially. Once the reality of the death sinks in, you will experience the full extent of grief, so do look at: What is Bereavement and How does Grief affect Adults?.

Road traffic accidentsThese are ever-increasing events and totally unexpected. For Support contact:Brake Care

PO Box 548, Huddersfield HD1 2XZ

Tel: 01484 559983

This organisation has published a Booklet 'Coping with grief- when someone you love is killed on the road'.Victim Support

PO Box 1143, London SW9 6ZH

Tel: 0845 3030 900

Web: www.victimsupport.com

This organisation offers a network of experienced volunteers throughout most parts of the UK to help those bereaved on the road.DrowningWhen a loved one is lost in this way, their remains are not always recovered, making the recovery process particularly difficult.

Drowning Support Network

Web: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrowningSupportNetwork

Support for those who've lost loved ones in incidents involving drowning or other aquatic accidents.

.

[Shawn]

Let's not forget the resiliency of the human spirit!

______________________________

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/health/p...ogy/04trau.html

January 4, 2005

After Food and Shelter, Help in Coping With Unbearable Loss

By BENEDICT CAREY

roviding psychological services for millions who have lost family members, homes and communities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other countries will become critical in the coming weeks, officials from the World Health Organization, Unicef, and other relief agencies say.

The scope of the emotional fallout will be impossible to predict. The first priority, the officials said, is to deliver food, shelter and drinking water. But the United Nations has already set up a network for counseling in Sri Lanka and, on Friday, sent mental health workers to the Maldives.

Any natural disaster takes a steep emotional toll, the experts said, but this one is distinguished by its sheer size and scale. Studies of earthquakes, fires, hurricanes and other disasters that have devastated communities find that a majority of survivors eventually learn to live with awful memories and to work through their grief. But a significant number suffer either chronic mental distress or a more immediate emotional numbness that can isolate them from others.

"At this point we have to be very careful not to label as a mental health problem this natural psychological response to being displaced in a split second, to seeing that everything you had now no longer exists," said Dr. Rachel Yehuda, director of the traumatic stress program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Bronx Veterans Affairs Hospital. Those who are deeply scarred emotionally will need long-term care, she said, not a few hours or days of emergency care by grief counselors or other mental health workers.

After suffering a violent injury, or witnessing a catastrophe, some 5 percent to 10 percent of people suffer from lingering nightmares, moodiness, nervous exhaustion and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, researchers say. These symptoms are considered worrisome if they become chronic; they can appear months or even years after the crisis.

Yet the rates of severe traumatic reactions can be much higher among people sitting directly in the impact zone of a seemingly apocalyptic event. After a 1988 earthquake that leveled the Armenian town of Spitak, killing half its schoolchildren, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that more than half the town's children suffered from post-traumatic stress and depression. The rate was less than half that in Gumri, some 30 miles away, and was negligible in Yerevan, the capital, 50 miles away.

"It's very clear, the more extreme the experience, the higher the risk of severe psychological reactions," said Dr. Alan Steinberg, one of the study's authors. "Those people who were on the beach in this case, or close, are going to be at highest risk" of chronic emotional distress.

Even in areas farther inland, psychiatrists say, the grieving among people who have lost homes and family members may be complicated by the trauma and violence. When the final memory of a lost loved one is violent, or suffused with guilt or helpless rage, experts say, it interferes with the natural ability to mourn loss, leaving people numb, at risk for serious depression, and cut off from others around them.

"If there's a signature image of this catastrophe, it's the loss of children, the parents right there struggling for their own lives but unable to protect or save their children," said Dr. Robert Pynoos, co-director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, and a professor of psychiatry at the University of California's Neuropsychiatric Institute in Los Angeles.

The risk that this prolonged grief can cause depression is greater still, experts say, when the death of a loved one is not confirmed, or the body is swept into a mass grave without being identified - as has occurred in some areas hit by the tsunami.

In such circumstances, when the normal cultural rituals surrounding death are disrupted, wild rumors often circulate, experts say. In 1985, volcanic ash and rubble killed some 80 percent of the inhabitants of the Armero, Colombia, sweeping away the bodies. For months afterward, there were stories and "sightings" of some of the dead wandering in far-off places. Only after the corpses were found two years later and proper ceremonies were conducted, did the survivors accept their loss, according to a World Health Organization report.

In 2001, a fire in Lima, Peru, killed some 270 people, charring many bodies beyond recognition and depriving families of identifiable remains to bury and mourn. In the resulting confusion, rumors circulated that relief workers were stealing cadavers for medical experimentation, or selling harvested body parts, the W.H.O. report said.

In the weeks and months to come, experts say, relief workers can help dispel such rumors, as well as identify survivors who are at risk of prolonged depression or traumatic stress. The health organization has issued guidelines for relief workers on how to deal with traumatized victims, and a group affiliated with the University of Oslo is planning a program to provide information on counseling to teachers and others in the areas hardest hit by the disaster.

[Shawn]

http://readthehook.com/stories/2005/01/06/...ionDontLan.html

Grave situation: Don't landfill the Tsunami bodies

Published January 6, 2005, in issue 0401 of the Hook By GORDON LIVINGSTON [email protected]

In the calculus of human misery it is impossible to grasp the cost of the tsunami that hit Southern Asia. At some point our ability to respond emotionally is overwhelmed by the numbers of dead. The television news coverage with its wrecked resort areas, boats pushed inland, and rows of bodies fails utterly to convey the weight of grief that these pictures represent.

Here, we are told, is a man who has lost his wife, there a mother who can find only one of her eight children. The faces we see are black or brown, except for those who are interviewed about their good luck in airports as they return home. They speak our language; it makes for better television.

Relief efforts are underway. The wealthiest countries, says a UN official, have been stingy so far in their response. President Bush takes umbrage; he describes us as a "generous, kindhearted nation" and pledges, under pressure, $350 million dollars in aid to relief efforts that are going to require billions.

Meanwhile, the nameless dead are being gathered in great piles to be carted to mass graves. There is, apparently, a sense of urgency about getting rid of these bodies out of all proportion to the health risks that they pose. Imagine if your father or wife or child was missing, and as you searched for them, you heard that corpses were being collected, loaded on dump trucks and consigned-- without ceremony or identification-- to huge pits in the earth.

To have a body to bury with a service of farewell is a minimum requirement for human beings to begin a process of grief that allows us to move on with our lives after losing all that made living worthwhile.

America still has recovery teams sifting through crash sites in Vietnam to recover bone fragments that can be identified and returned to families of soldiers dead more than 35 years. Relatives of missing murder victims seem like restless spirits engaged in a never-ending search for the remains of their loved ones. People who are bereaved hate the word "closure"-- that state beloved by the media that implies that we have accepted our loss and moved on.

Parents of dead children are especially revolted by the idea that one can ever accept such an irredeemable loss. The process of mourning requires that we keep fresh the memories of our child. Commonly this effort is played out in graveyards where birthday flowers are renewed and our footprints in the snow mirror the footprints in our hearts.

The need for identification is an affirmation of our individual and collective humanity. Mass graves are the mark of the concentration camp and the murderous tyrant. The dangers posed by bodies unburied for a few days are much less than the emotional consequences of never knowing what has happened to loved ones and having no place to engage in the rituals of grief.

In an eerie reprise of the man-made tsunami of 9/11, there are pictures of the missing being posted on walls in Sri Lanka and Thailand and Indonesia. In some places, people crowd around bulletin boards filled with Polaroid photos of the dead, searching for the face of a relative.

Grief in the end is individual.

We cannot comprehend hundreds of thousands of broken hearts.

Every one of them is entitled to heal as best it can, but it is incumbent on those in authority to provide an environment that will promote that healing. This requires that no one be buried as if they were rubbish.

While we are sending the food and water that will enable the survivors to live, we need also to somehow try to moderate the panicked and heartless disposal of the dead so that the humanity of each is preserved and so that each family can begin the process of absorbing their unimaginable losses and rebuilding their lives.

Gordon Livingston is a West Point graduate who served as an Army doctor in Vietnam. He became an antiwar activist, and is now a psychiatrist in Columbia, Maryland. This essay is distributed through the Featurewell service. #

[Shawn]

Most victims need counselling

Devid Rajah in SRI LANKA HAMBANTOTA: Apart from dealing with physical injuries, relief workers helping tsunami victims here have had to address the mental state of those hit by the disaster.

“Almost every tsunami survivor is having psychological problems, as they have lost family members, friends and properties. “We are getting more psychologists to come in when the next team takes over,” said Dr Wee Tuan Hong, a volunteer with the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation (Malaysia).

According to him, there had not been any outbreak of diseases although the number of people seeking treatment was high because the local medical facilities have been damaged. In fact, tsunami victims make up only some 30% of those needing medical attention.

The rest are residents suffering from common and chronic illnesses. “If we NGOs (non-governmental organisations) don’t help, the health system will collapse here,” he said, adding that 10% of Hambantota town had been wiped out in the tsunami disaster.

The Malaysian leader of the Tzu-Chi team, Joseph Lee Yun Ming, said a total of 46 volunteers, comprising 38 Malaysians and eight Singaporeans, had been serving at the medical camp since Dec 29. “We have 11 medical staff and the rest are involved in other social services like ferrying patients to their homes or relief centres and visiting affected areas to distribute food.

“After visiting homes and assessing the situation, we buy whatever foodstuff is lacking,” he said. Counselling, he added, was another area of work that team members were involved in. “We were at a school where 200 children had not turned up for classes. The school did not know if the 200 students were still alive or dead. “People here are ready to smile but many also need counselling as they are highly traumatised,” explained Lee.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...3332&sec=nation

[Shawn]

Acehnese offered alternative therapies

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

Abdussalam lay face down on one of five stretchers in a tent where several foreigners clad in yellow T-shirts helped people who had approached the Scientology volunteers in search of consolation.

Andre, a Swede, lightly stroked the 36-year-old over particular nerve points before asking him to roll over and inquiring whether the displaced resident of Lamhu village, Inin Jaya in Aceh Besar felt any better. The volunteer then led him outside by the hand and ordered him to touch the bus parked by the tent, the trees and the shoulder of a passersby to regain his sense of something solid.

Abdussalam and his friends have not slept soundly since Dec. 26, when an earthquake and ensuing tsunamis leveled parts of Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. "I always feel as though the earth is moving under me, although others convince me that there is no aftershock.

None of us can sleep, including my wife, who is nine months' pregnant. But she doesn't want to come here ... I feel much better now, I already feel sleepy. I'll come back for more treatment," he told The Jakarta Post. A couple walked in brought by a relative, who said the waves had wrenched their three children away from them.

The father had lost his ability to hear and his right hand was injured. Talking in broken Indonesian, another volunteer asked them to be seated and began to massage them, again asking whether they felt any changes. The two were soon relaxed and expressed their gratitude.

At the far end of the tent, another volunteer was teaching massage techniques to body retrievers. It was hoped that the therapy would alleviate their stress after seeing unimaginable scenes of death and destruction. Two students from Lhokseumawe were also being trained by Scientology volunteers. "We're here to help people to heal themselves," Wayne Saunders of Perth, Australia, told the Post.

The volunteers from many parts of the world are apparently working hand-in-hand with members of a Muslim organization, who will give the patients religious instruction after their massages. The Scientology volunteers said they planned to stay for a month. With over 105,000 people killed in Indonesia and thousands of others still missing, the health ministry has estimated that half of the over 605,000 displaced people in Aceh are suffering from mental problems, ranging from severe to minor breakdowns, with symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, confusion, depression, delusion and excessive fear of water.

According to Wayne, the Scientology team offers various self-help methods that are useful in helping survivors recover.