Locals Go To Blacksburg To Help
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: April 24, 2007
The team from Central Virginia Community Services arrived in Blacksburg on Monday morning and, after orientation, was to go into the classrooms to work with any student needing help.
Nancy E. Cottingham, the local agency's executive director, had e-mailed the director of the New River Valley Community Services Board to offer assistance soon after the April 16 tragedy.
The request came late last week.
"They called us and asked us to send whoever we could spare to help in the classrooms," Cottingham said.
The mental health team was led by Linda Edwards, director of the agency's adult and family department, and included a coordinator who handled travel details and housing.
For the students, "returning to the classroom is a big deal," Cottingham said, and having a clinician in every classroom meeting was an important resource.
Central Virginia Community Services Board is one of 40 community services boards contracting with the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to provide local treatment programs.
Although Blacksburg is just under two hours away from Lynchburg, the far-reaching disaster plan includes the Central Virginia agency as well as community services boards from adjacent areas.
"The closer you are, the more you send," Cottingham said.
Sending the team of 14 required work from almost everyone at CVCS, she said. "We wouldn't be able to do this unless the rest of the staff was willing to cover for the staff going."
The team will return late today.
Bill Armistead, who oversees the state mental health department's emergency response network and is a liaison with other departments' emergency offices, said, "our job in a disaster in the behavioral health arena is to try to help people get over disaster or traumatic events."
He coordinates the plans and the department's response to those events.
At least four community service boards have been asked to help at the New River Valley agency, which includes Virginia Tech in its service area.
Armistead said that a number of community service boards have offered to help, and because of events like Sept. 11, 2001, and the Washington-area sniper shootings and natural disasters, "we have a number of responders and people who have worked with any kind of situation."
Armistead said care is necessary to assure that there aren't too many people to coordinate. Care must also be taken so that the responders aren't overworked.
"You have to rotate folks," he said.
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
