By JANICE DE JESUS
Staff Writer
Contra Costa Times (California)
As a former Benicia police officer, Donna Santana was no stranger to crisis.
But when she developed breast cancer in 1993, Santana had to deal with her own personal crisis.
“When you have cancer, it changes your outlook. You live your life with a lot more meaning,” she said.
Family and friends showered her with support during her ordeal that Santana couldn’t wait to help others in need. Surviving breast cancer became the impetus for establishing a trauma intervention services program.
Being familiar with responding to emergencies first-hand, she wanted to help police and fire agencies any way she could after she left the police department. Ten years ago, with the support of grant money from the city of Walnut Creek, Santana and a group of 42 volunteers began serving the community as trauma interventionists. Their mission: to provide support to individuals in crisis situations such as accidents, fire, deaths, domestic violence and suicides. Volunteers are dispatched to crisis scenes at the request of police and fire agencies.
In 1997, Crisis Resolution Services, Inc. (CRS) became a nonprofit. This year, the organization celebrates its first decade of service. It relies on community, state and federal grants as well as private donations and annual payments from agencies it works with.
“It’s been a great 10 years,” said Santana. “People ask me, how do you do this? I don’t concentrate on terrible things that happened. We focus on, ‘Let’s do something to help them.’”
Currently, CRS has 60 volunteers who live all over Contra Costa County. Training is not only given at the time a person signs up but continues during their service. Volunteers expose themselves to a variety of topics from victim contact skills to cultural awareness. In times of crisis, people’s beliefs have to be considered when helping them cope with a crisis.
“You’ve got to be sensitive to other people’s religious beliefs,” Santana said. “We try to be as knowledgeable as we can yet be effective so as not to offend anyone.”
Volunteers need to familiarize themselves with the emergency rooms at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek and Mt. Diablo Medical Center in Concord. Many volunteers assist victims’ family members in the waiting room providing blankets or getting coffee.
Support isn’t limited to health-related situations.
“When a loved one gets arrested, volunteers assist in letting family members know what’s going on, what to expect and who to contact,” Santana said.
Volunteers cannot provide counseling services for any situation such as rape, for instance. Instead, they refer individuals to special agencies that can provide appropriate services and ongoing support.
“We basically do a lot of listening and figure out where this person can go to feel safe,” Santana said.
CRS is part of the Contra Costa County Disaster Preparedness Team. Occasionally, volunteers participate in emergency drills such as a statewide terrorism drill held in November at the Oakland Coliseum.
Volunteers come from all walks of life.
Jamie Gerson was an empty-nester looking for something new to fill in her days. She had no previous disaster or emergency training, but says raising children gave her enough training for the role of trauma interventionist. Gerson was among those called to the scene of last year’s Walnut Creek pipeline explosion.
“I remember going to local hospitals to see if any victims were taken there and to help family members make phone calls,” Gerson said. “Two days later, we went back to the site when bodies were being recovered to give comfort to people by letting them know someone was there for them.”
Being a trauma interventionist is a rewarding, but challenging experience, said Julie Sumpter of Concord.
“We get a lot of death calls,” Sumpter said. “But you have to remove yourself emotionally to be there for support. We’re an immediate Band-Aid to whatever people need to help them get to the next step.
“Being able to handle tragic situations where people are emotionally distraught could be hard for some people,” Sumpter said. “You have to be compassionate and strong. It’s just something I’m able to do.”