Historical May 1995 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Ed, a resident of the 6100 block of McPherson, was in Oklahoma City within eight hours of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building as a member of NOVA’s volunteer Crisis Response Team. NOVA, the National Organization for Victim Assistance, is the professional membership organization for crime victim advocates and counselors, law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health providers, clergy, etc. — working to improve services for crime victims and for the recognition of victim rights within the criminal justice system.
In 1993, Ed organized the St Louis Metro Crime Victims Crisis Response Team, involving 30 different agencies, serving St. Louis City, St Louis County, and St. Charles County.
His St Louis agency, Aid for Victims of Crime, received NOVA’s highest award for program distinction last year. April 19, 1995, 9 a.m. Evil crawled out of the nether world, walked into Oklahoma City, and with an agricultural bomb, blew a hole eight stories deep in the Heartland of America; the emotional craters, however, are too deep to measure.
For six to eight blocks surrounding the Murrah Federal Building, I saw massive destruction of office building, restaurants, stores, apartment.
This physical destruction stands as a symbolic reminder of the massive pain and suffering Evil had inflicted on thousands of people in %Oklahoma, across the Midwest, throughout the Nation and the World. NOVA teams came from all over the country — from Washington state and DC, from Florida, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, and St. Louis. Our job, team leader Rev. Ruth Bursin, an Episcopal priest and psychologist from Virginia, reminded us, “…is not to take over the job of the local caregiving community; it is, in three days, to mobilize and train the local caregiving community to be prepared for the long haul.” The search and rescue workers had the task of saving lives and finding the dead.
The NOVA team had its unique role: 1) to bring together the mental health and victim service providers (remember, these are crime victims) for specialized training; and 2) together with local service providers, to provide edUcation and debriefing sessions for everyone affected by the tragedy.
The debriefing process is designed to give participants and opportunity to discuss and describe their reactions to the tragedy and how they have been coping with those reactions. April 20, 1995. Eighteen victim advocates from across the state arrived for the first training session. Jeanette Adkins from Ohio carefully walked them through “crisis reaction and crisis response techniques” and how to apply these techniques to help large numbers of people.
During our break, the team met to get caught up on the activities of other team members and make plans for the rest of the day. Jeanette suddenly got reassigned.
I took over the training. That afternoon, the numbers multiplied to 126 trainees–from all segments of the service community. Friday morning, the numbers grew to 196; Friday afternoon, to 250. Evil, for all the pain he caused, got trampled on by Good, in large numbers.
From everywhere, the good people of Oklahoma City came out.
The police had to erect a fence around the bomb site, not to keep looters out, but to organize all the good people who came to help. Food was everywhere. Two little girls heard someone needed Pampers; they cut grass, raised a few bucks, and bought Pampers. One man donated a truckload of dog food and treats for the search dogs — his way of helping.
The Waco, you heard right, Waco Construction Company of Oklahoma City donated hard hats. “Love thy neighbor” (Jesus’ idea two thousand years ago) and “Love thy neighborhood” (my wife Mary Bea’s idea for a community anticrime project in 1976) became the glue that was rebinding a community together. April 22, 5:10 p.m.
My plane was lifting from the runway, headed back home, I felt good.
The team had trained over 800 local caregivers, including police chaplains at the site of the bombing, 80 clergy, and 100 teachers.
The team had provided debriefing services for people who were in the federal building and for surviving loved ones, along with construction workers, firefighters, search and rescue workers and police at the site of the bombing.
We were also successful in creating an alliance with the Mental Health Department to set up a system of contacts and services in the community. And, at the request of the Justice Department, NOVA had another 40 CRT specialists in Oklahoma City to do follow-up training and debriefing with teachers and law enforcement on Sunday morning. Evil may have crawled out of his nether world on April 19. And, it will take a long time — weeks, months, even years — to repair the physical damage and heal the emotional craters left in his path. But, I saw how the power of Good went to work, fast.
As I stood in line for lunch that Saturday, I read the T-shirt on the man in front of me — New York Fire Department. Good came from all over.
It ten occurred to me that the success of the victims’ movement ultimately will be judged, not by home often we put Evil in his place, but by the lengths we go to reach out to our victimized neighbors and say, “I’m sorry it happened. How are you doing?’ More on Crisis response next month
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, May 1995.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1995_05.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
