HEALTH WORKERS STILL LEARNING HOW TO DEAL WITH 9/11 TRAGEDY
Asbury Park Press, May 4, 2002.
by Gail Sheehy

Andrea Alexander
Middletown Bureau
TINTON FALLS – The worst of the shock, fear and grief felt since the Sept. 11 attacks may still be ahead. But with little precedent dealing with catastrophe of magnitude, professionals say they are learning each day how to help.

“The reality is it is never going to be the same, and there are people who are now just coming forward seeking help,” said Mary Ann Cernak of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team.

“And there is no book for how we are supposed to respond. We are writing the book now, ” she said.

Meridian Health System brought area professionals together yesterday to share their experiences assisting people whose lives changed – directly or indirectly – in the tragedy. The event took place at the Holiday Inn on Hope Road
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“We are running a marathon,” Cernak said. “This isn’t going to be over in the next few months. We have to make sure to take care of ourselves.”

She shared lessons learned in the communities surrounding Oklahoma City since the attack on the federal building seven years ago that killed 167 people and wounded hundreds of others.

“In Oklahoma City, people experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder two years after the attack. People from 100 miles away were affected. Imagine how many people live within 100 miles of New York City, ” Cernak said.

Professionals expect to learn during the next six months mow many people will suffer long-term trauma as a result of the attack, said Tony Trachta, director of Meridian Behavioral Health.

Best-selling author Gail Sheehy spent countless hours with victims’ families from Middletown and caregivers who have been on the forefront of grief research for a book she is working on. Her first book, “Passages,” about changes people experience in life, stayed on The New York Times best-seller list for more than three years.
Sheehy spoke to the group about her work yesterday.

“It seemed to me that on Sept. 11 we were suddenly thrust into a great national passage,” Sheehy said.

“We as a country experienced a cataclysmic life accident that we couldn’t prevent or predict. And just as we have heard, the more unexpected it is, the more traumatic.”
Sheehy said she is learning that the grief each family is going through is unique, despite the fact their loss came from a national disaster. The attack was a betrayal of the safety many families sought in moving to Middletown, she said.

“People left behind the big city looking for more space and proximity to the beach, ” she said. “They came here to buy or build their dream house – but as you know, many people didn’t return home that night.

Normally after a fatal accident, survivors will want to know what happened and who is responsible, Sheehy said. The pain for many families in the area is heightened because they will never know what happened. Some will never even receive a body to mourn and bury, she said.

“9-11 was a wake-up call. It told use that we need each other. That no man, woman, father, mother, child is an island, no matter how grand their house or how big their checking account,” Sheehy said. “As Americans we have been swept into hyper-individualism. Many in Middletown didn’t know their neighbors. Then the illusion of security blew up in the faces.”

Sheehy predicted the work of groups that formed to help the community – such as Families Assisting Victims of Terror – will be needed for years to come.

“We have to watch out for expecting closure. Some loss is so large and so great people never get over it and this may be one of them,” she said.

Area health care professionals know their job is far from over. That is why it is important that they learn to protect themselves, in order to continue helping others,” said Lori Christensen, clinical director of the Regional Trauma Center in Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune.