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Working with the Bereaved
The term bereaved means robbed, taken away by force, especially deprived by death of one connected by some endearing tie. When bereavement is tied to disaster, the process of grief and mourning is profoundly complicated. The bereaved may experience not only the loss of a loved one, but also the loss of home, community, and livelihood. If they are not part of the disaster scene, distance will create other difficulties. Such catastrophic loss carries physiological and psychological consequences for those whose lives have been redefined by disaster.
The immediate needs of the bereaved include information, practical assistance in coping, and emotional support. Bereaved individuals may interact with many responders in the aftermath of their loss. How the bereaved are treated by these humanitarian agents will significantly influence how they cope with their losses. Differences in class and culture between the bereaved and those working with them can further complicate matters for responders who are also struggling to manage their own sorrow and horror.
Survival Needs
One grief counselor refers to bereavement as a ‘natural disaster.’ The loss of a family member or friend in any circumstances shakes the world of the bereaved. In the case of the loss of human life in disasters, the bereaved are confronted with events outside the normal range of experience. Death is unexpected and devastating, and in addition to natural grief, those bereaved in disasters are overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness, loss of control, and a general sense of horror.
For many of them, losses are multiple, and they themselves may be injured and traumatized by direct experience of the disaster. Even for those who do not directly experience the disaster, the world has become a less safe, less just place.
Most of these factors are beyond the control of those working with the bereaved. One need that workers can address is the provision of medical care, water, food, and shelter. For the bereaved in a disaster setting, who are shocked, disoriented, and uncomprehending, their own basic needs may seem unimportant or intrusive. In the absence of a conventional support system, it may fall to humanitarian workers to see that these survival needs are met.
The Need for Information
A more pressing need from the perspective of the bereaved may be the need for information. Media images of desperate relatives seeking information after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, or the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti reinforce the compelling need of the bereaved to know what happened. Doubts about whether the loved one is truly dead, and concerns about the circumstances of death, their degree of suffering experienced, and their remains are all paramount in the minds of the bereaved. Reliable information is the necessary first step in accepting the reality of loss and regaining a sense of control.
After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, area hospitals were under siege by family members seeking information. Authorities set up a Compassion Center that became a sanctuary for those waiting for final news of a loved one. For 16 days, representatives from the city, state, and federal government; clergy; and major relief organizations; along with nearly 400 volunteer mental health professionals, worked together to provide death notification, support services, and stress management for the families of those who had perished in the bombing.
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