Clinical Social Worker's Care Goes Beyond FHR

Working for Fellowship Health Resources Maine has allowed me the opportunity to serve clients who have been challenged by circumstances beyond their control. It has also allowed me the opportunity to broaden my service nationally to people who have been adversely impacted by natural disasters.

I have been a Disaster Mental Health volunteer with the American Red Cross since 1999. Armed with a Clinical Social Worker license, and some basic disaster trainings, I have been deployed to Shanksville, PA, for the United Airlines Plane Crash #93 of 9/11; Hurricane Ivan in Pensacola Beach, FL; Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA; and, most recently, the Tennessee Floods of 2010. American Red Cross also responds to locally situated disasters, such as house/business fires, for which I have also volunteered.

The national disasters all share a common denominator. Each is a disaster of a magnitude that has surpassed the local ability of emergency personnel to respond effectively. Disasters can vary, as can the duties one may perform once deployed. A national disaster can be anything from natural disasters such as forest fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, to man-made disasters, such as plane crashes or terrorist attacks.

My duties vary from disaster to disaster, but have included providing shelter to house-displaced victims, providing grief counseling, debriefing staff, providing case management services, and providing outreach support in the impacted communities.

Volunteering for this work is emotionally rewarding because of the amazing people I meet, and the humanity I bear witness to in all of these situations. It is similar to the experience I receive from working with the clients I serve at FHR Maine. As is the case in mental illness, anyone can be impacted by challenging circumstances as the result of a disaster. It’s wonderful that there are many agencies and organizations that share the mission of service to others, and are there to help pick up the pieces and lend a helping hand.

Contributed by Starr Gilmartin