Posted by Dominique (207.112.226.243) on September 13, 2001 at 12:13:05:
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and interested others:
I have been asked to disseminate emergency information about how nurses may
assist in light of yesterday's heinous attacks on New York City and the
Pentagon by the New York State Nurses' Association. We will be posting
updates to this information as we get them to
http://www.ResourceNurse.Com/RN . At the present time, blood supplies are
pretty well stocked up, although we've already seen over 2,300 injuries in
New York City. The public outpouring of empathy has been overwhelming, but
blood supplies will need to be bolstered again in 3 weeks, and 3
months. This is an excellent time to obtain a donor card, and mark your
calendar to donate regularly. Other volunteer opportunities and contact
information for are listed at
http://www.resourcenurse.com/RN/nyc_contact_info . Obviously, these kinds
of rescue and support operations are very expensive, and it is impossible
to begin to tally the effect on relief agencies' budgets. At least 50,000
people are now out of work, and it may be some time before they and their
families can go through the application process for unemployment
benefits. We have included contact information for those who are able to
make a financial contribution to aid in the meantime.
Sometimes it's helpful to share your thoughts and feelings in the aftermath
of such overwhelming horror. It makes us better people and better nurses
when we do. Please feel free to write us at:
letters as we possibly can, and forward your expressions of prayer and
empowerment to New York and Washington nurses, rescue personnel, and the
citizens of these cities through the proper channels. Sitting here just
outside New York City, having spent much of last evening with children from
my childrens' school who were waiting for an adult to pick them up, some
still not knowing at 9:30 last night whether they would ever see one (or
both) of their parents again, the expressions of support and sympathy
received from the global nursing community mean the world to us. Thank you
all for being such gifts to the world! US nurses - especially those of us
in NY and DC - please see the messages sent to us from around the world at
http://www.resourcenurse.com/RN/nyc_letters .
It is difficult to know how best to assist our patients, families, and
ourselves to go forward after such horrifying loss. ResourceNurse.Com is
in the process of creating and posting a free continuing education program
aimed at nurses helping others in the aftermath of disaster. It will be
posted at http://www.ResourceNurse.Com/RN/CE on Thursday, September 13,
2001. Please share this information with friends and colleagues. To our
school nurses, please share this information with your teachers and school
guidance personnel as well. In the meantime, information about assisting
children to deal with the grief and terror such disasters cause, online
information is available at "Coping with Emotions after a Disaster" at
http://www.psychworks.com/PTSD%20response.htm and "Managing Traumatic
Stress", American Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org . Other
resources are available at "The Child Survivor of Traumatic
Stress", http://users.umassmed.edu/Kenneth.Fletcher/kidsurv.html, "Helping
Children After a Disaster: Facts for Families" from the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at http://www.aacap.org/ and the National
Center for PTSD has a large literature base online at http://www.ncptsd.org/ .
Some final thoughts:
No man is an island, entire of it self;
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were;
Anyone's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind;
And therefore never sent to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
- John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) Meditation XVII
Finally, if you know of further volunteer information, especially ways to
assist in the Washington, DC area, or have any other information to share,
please contact us at
Peace to you all!
Kelli
Kelli Rosenthal, MS, RNC, CRNI, CANP
President and CEO
ResourceNurse.Com, a Division of Nurses-Station.Com, LLC
www.ResourceNurse.Com)
[email protected]
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