Dealing with death is never easy, regardless of the age of the victim and his or her family members. Sudden death may be even more difficult to cope with, especially at the time of the incident when family and friends are caught unaware and are in shock.  

With emergency room staff not always having adequate time to sit with anxious family members or friends of victims of accidents or sudden death, who is available to lend support, listen, help to make calls, or just be there?

The answer is the Crisis Response & Bereavement Team. Region wide, this team is composed of many members of the community. At North Country Hospital, the team includes members from many of the hospital’s departments.  All of them are volunteers who agree to be on-call at different times of the week or month to be available to provide support to families and friends at the hospital during times of unexpected loss of a loved one, or when a crisis has occurred.

While the volunteer is not there to provide professional counseling of any kind, he or she is there to support the victim’s family and friends. This support comes in the form of: 

• Helping to find correct phone numbers and making calls
• Helping family members think about who should be called, making a list
• Offering food or beverages to family members who may not have eaten in a while
• Reminding family members if they themselves have any medications that they should be taking during the long emergency room wait
• Listening to what their immediate needs are to see which can best be met
• Verifying that they understand what the doctor or nurse just told them – encouraging them not to be afraid to ask for it to be repeated so that they understand as well as possible
• Just being there to sit and wait with them

These are just some of the ways that volunteers from the hospital’s Crisis Response & Bereavement Team help in the waiting area when a crisis occurs, the staff is busy with emergencies, but family members or friends need support.  The volunteer also follows up by calling the family two weeks after the incident and again three months later.  These calls provide additional support to the family and allow them the opportunity to express any further needs or concerns.

North Country Hospital’s Team is an integral part of larger region wide Crisis Response & Bereavement Team. This larger team was developed in the early months of 2004 as a response to several community losses. The community Team includes members from two supervisory school unions – Orleans Essex North Supervisory Union and Orleans Central Supervisory Union.  These two districts serve most of the schools in the towns of Orleans County and the northern part of Essex County. Each of these districts has representatives who are trained in providing support and comfort -- particularly to the fellow students and close friends of the victims -- in the event of sudden loss or other crises.

It is always very hard to experience the loss of a loved one, perhaps especially when death is sudden or the victim is very young. It is comforting and reassuring to know, that in this area, there is a Team of very special people – people who volunteer their time to be available when crisis or sudden death occurs and family or friends need someone to help them get through that initial shock and disbelief.

For more information about the Crisis Response and Bereavement Team, contact Rhonda Howard, RN, Education Department, 334-7331 Ext. 359 or rhoward@nchsi.org.