| 9.13.05 |
| Hurricane Katrina Relief |
Crisis Care Network deploys Mobile Disaster Response Units to Hurricane Katrina
Impact Areas
Grand Rapids, MI – September 13, 2005 – Crisis Care Network (CCN) has begun deploying teams of Crisis Response Specialists from its national network of trained mental health professionals to fill assignments in impacted areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to fulfill hundreds of requests for assistance from CCN’s client companies. Teams of specialists have been flown into Grand Rapids where five mobile disaster response units are being staged at CCN’s headquarters before departing for the Gulf area at 4:30pm ET today.
The mobile disaster response units are staffed with licensed clinical practitioners who have received advanced training from CCN in the very latest evidence-based, best-practice approaches to on-scene organizational and psychological support. Demand for these early intervention services has escalated rapidly as organizations have sought to locate employees, assess the needs of workers and their families, and provide assistance for vital concerns such as emergency shelter, relocation, and assistance navigating the complex system of disaster aid from federal, state, local, and nongovernmental agencies.
CCN provides behavioral health professionals to assist organizations with the impact of critical incidents in the workplace. Typical responses deal with issues such as robberies, industrial accidents, or workplace violence. Responses to the ongoing impact of Hurricane Katrina have presented unique problems for employers who are demanding an expanded range of support services for their employees while facing extraordinarily challenging logistics and time pressures.
“Ordinary approaches to critical incident response are not sufficient to meet our clients’ needs for a disaster of this magnitude,” said Bob VandePol, President of Crisis Care. “Our position is that we will do whatever it takes to get the help that’s needed on the ground where and when it’s needed. We are in ‘do what it takes mode’, and the mobile response units are the fastest way to get compassionate expertise into the impact zone. The faster we deploy, the sooner people can begin to recover and rebuild their lives.”
Operating on a 24X7 basis since Katrina made landfall, CCN activated its Level III Disaster Response Plan, doubling telephone and web-based access to its Michigan incident response center and alerting its entire network of four thousand specialists. CCN Response Coordinators are currently managing over 600 requests for service from employers around the country, and the call volume is increasing as the scope of the human impact becomes clearer. Crisis Care Network is also providing emergency training for insurance adjusters and claims managers preparing for duty in the disaster area and helping prepare corporate staff to assist workers coming to resettlement centers.
About Crisis Care Network
Crisis Care Network, Inc. is the leading provider of critical incident response services, training, and resources in North America. Having responded to over 15,000 requests for service, CCN specializes in equipping EAP care managers and HR professionals with business-focused critical incident services and is the principal supplier of those services to the EAP industry.
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