INTERVENTIONS WITH RESCUE/RECOVERY WORKERS: 
LESSONS LEARNED FROM FLIGHT 592 AND FLIGHT 427

Presenter: John D. Weaver, LSW, ACSW, CBHE



          Among the many challenges posed by mass-casualty disasters is the immediate
          need for numerous rescue/recovery workers.  These workers will experience a
          traumatic event with graphic losses that will likely dwarf anything they
          have previously experienced.  Some communities have the human resources
          available to immediately respond with fully trained and experienced
          workers; other communities must, to some degree, rely upon untrained
          volunteers.  Similarly, the availability of trained disaster mental health
          resources such as CISM and ARC DMHS teams varies greatly from community to
          community.  Drawing upon the speaker's expieriences with the ARC DMHS
          team's efforts in Pittsburgh and Miami, this presentation will explore some
          of the issues involved in assessing and addressing the mental health needs
          of the rescue/recovery workers in cases of sudden catastrophic loss.   


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