New York State's hospice community responded with an immediate outpouring of support and assistance following the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th.

Outlined below are just a few examples of what New York State's hospices did in the hours, days, and weeks following the attacks. Their own words send a powerful message.

"We acknowledge with heartfelt thanks the incredible effort put forth by our members to meet the needs of their patients and families, their communities, and their staff members following the tragedies of September 11th. In every instance our members did the right thing and were there in a "New York minute" to assist those in need."
Kathy McMahon, President and CEO
Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State

"Within all of the sadness, the overwhelming goodness of people shines through. We have been deluged with offers of counseling assistance from former staff, volunteers and strangers in the community. We have all been witness to countless acts of kindness."
Amy Stern, Director, United Hospice of Rockland County

"Our strength and relentless drive to rebuild and repair comes directly from the pain we all suffered on September 11, 2001."
Dennis Ferguson, RN, C, Director, Hospice of New York

At and Near Ground Zero...

• Our nurses went immediately to the Staten Island ferry terminal where a triage unit had been established and where they could assist.
• Nurses volunteered at St. Vincent's Hospital to assist as patients were triaged for care at other sites.
• The chaplain for our hospice, which is located in central New York, volunteered in the ER at St. Vincent's Hospital for two days.
• Our medical director and social work coordinator both volunteered at the armory where families had been asked to register the missing and to bring belongings in an effort to obtain DNA samples so bodies could be identified.
• Nurses provided crisis counseling at two NY Fire Department EMS centers, including ground zero.
• Counseling of rescue and recovery workers at ground zero was provided by our chaplain.
• A number of our nurses and social workers made their way to the WTC to volunteer their services.
• One of our nurses assisted in the evacuation of the World Trade Center.
• Many New York area hospices sent nurses, social workers, and bereavement staff to Pier 94 to provide counseling services.
• This Long Island hospice collaborated with the Long Island Jewish Health System to establish a response plan that would address the needs of the victims and their families.
• A Crisis Response Hotline was immediately set up. The crisis phone number was distributed throughout the healthcare system and callers were triaged by a trained individual to identify need for adult and/or child counseling, school counseling, or organizational counseling.

Preparing for the Aftermath...

• Anticipating the need for bereavement services in the coming months, we are looking at adding additional support groups as well as a number of education and support sessions including coping with grief during the holidays, and grief in the workplace.
• Our staff has attended multiple training sessions on post-traumatic stress, and psychiatric symptoms post-disaster.
• Our social workers attended a training session for Employee Education and Support. I then served as a co-facilitator for three sessions in early October.
• Hospice collaborated with the County Department of Mental Health, the United Way, and other agencies to develop a coordinated, planned system of response to the crisis during the immediate aftermath as well as in the months and years to come.
• Our Hospice consulted with Red Cross Disaster Response for future programs.
• Collaboration in ongoing. Our bereavement staff has developed and presented to behavioral health staff in our healthcare system important issues around traumatic grief, normal grief and bereavement.

With Our Patients and Families...

• As the news broke about the attacks on the World Trade Center, we sent staff to visit patients knowing that commuting around the city would be impaired.
• Field staff went right to work to make sure patients were safe and well stocked with supplies.
• We immediately reviewed the disaster plan with the PCG for each patient.
• There was no disruption with our patient care as our nurses stayed very close to all.
• Bereavement support was provided for our Hospice families whose recently healed grief wounds were re-opened by the events of 9/11.
• The pastoral care staff are active in supporting our patients, their families, our staff and the community.

Responding to Community Needs...

• We responded to the New York City Fire Fighters Counseling Center's request for volunteers to provided counselors for their families. The Hospice and Palliative Care Association of NYS set up a toll free number so help could be accessed in a 24/7 basis. NYC based hospices generously volunteered their services to the fire fighter's families.
• Nurses and Social Workers provided crisis counseling at Beth Israel Medical Center ER and St. Vincent Hospital ER.
• Our hospice set up a crisis hotline that has been staffed by both pastoral care and social work staff 24 hours a day. Individuals, families, and families of firefighters in particular have accessed this line and are being served by us.
• Hospice staff participated in two community forums attended by victims families as well as about 50 health professionals.
• We provided outreach to area schools to assist staff and children cope with their feeling and concerns regarding the tragedy.
• Within five hours, our hospice was able to offer counseling services at two sites.
• Our staff has done extensive counseling at local hospitals.
• We have offered four local memorial services.
• Our hospice offered individual bereavement or supportive counseling by certified social workers.
• A "Candlelight Vigil for our Nation" was held in Saratoga Springs, NY.
• Our hospice serves as the "home" of our county's newly established family assistance center.
• Our director serves on a countywide steering committee that is evaluating the needs of the entire community.
• We offer individual and bereavement counseling to victim's families. As the numbers rise, we will divide the groups based on type of loss that they have had.
• Copies of "A Teacher's Guide to the Grieving Student," donated by a hospice in Pennsylvania, were provided to schools in the vicinity of the WTC.
• Hundreds of copies of bereavement support literature specific to trauma were distributed through staff, the Syracuse faith communities, e-mail list-serves, as well as at speaking engagements.
• We participated in "Pastoral Care of Faith Communities in a Time of Tragedy, Trauma and Fear," where we joined an interfaith panel of Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Zen Buddhist leaders to discuss spiritual support of congregations.
• We made eleven presentations to a wide variety of community groups.
• Grief counseling was provided to Central New York residents who lost loved ones in the terror attacks.
• A Red Cross Team member returning from Ground Zero received a de-briefing from our counseling staff.
• We worked with our local media on pieces about grief and bereavement.
• To date, 28 individuals/families and 30 agencies have been served by our social work and bereavement staff.
• Our staff have collaborated with the NYC Department of Mental Health Services and LifeNet to meet the needs of the families served by the crisis center.
• Staff conducted educational and support sessions at a local Senior Center and funeral homes.
• Our hospice brought in a noted clinical psychologist and specialist in bereavement issues related to traumatic loss to present two programs-one to help families cope with traumatic loss, and one designed to provide help for the helpers-school counselors, therapists, and mental health practitioners.

Children's Services...

• We offered a program on Children's Expression of Loss through Art & Music.
• Our Healing Hearts program (children's bereavement program) has had counselors in schools and is accepting registrations for our children's group.
• We established children's bereavement groups for children of all ages.
• We sponsored a program on "Talking to Children About Grief," featuring noted children's author Joy Johnson, at St. Vincent's Hospital.
• One hundred children's grief books, donated by the Centering Corporation, were given to the New York City Fire Fighters' Counseling Center for distribution to their families.
• The Association gave the New York City Fire Fighters' Counseling Center five cartons of grief dolls, generously donated by a hospice in Washington State.

At the Workplace...

• Our hospice has continued to respond to numerous telephone calls from corporations requesting assistance in providing services to their employees and their families.
• At the request of the NYS Department of Social Services, our hospice in Western New York sent two counselors to work with their staff and family members.
• At the request of a Manhattan law firm, we conducted a series of eight 90-minute sessions focusing on centering reflection, sharing of feelings, sharing of coping tools/strategies, sharing of professional resources for follow-up if needed. Approximately 350 employees attended.
• We responded to numerous requests from corporations to provide counseling to staff.
• For the Syracuse University Employee Assistance Program we presented a program on "Grief, Loss and Trauma."
• We provided education and support to a corporation that contacted us about training their Human Resource staff about issues of traumatic grief and workplace disruption.
• Social work and bereavement staff participated in a counseling center set up for families of Cantor Fitzgerald.

For Hospice Staff...

• We held ten memorial services to provide an environment of healing and safety in which people could grieve.
• A series of debriefing groups for employees to process the events of September 11th were initiated. These sessions were intended for individuals who were working with survivors and family members as well as for employees who were feeling the emotional aftermath of the tragic events.
• We are organizing a support group for anyone who has been counseling victims' families, survivors, and rescue workers.
• Three staff gatherings were held throughout the first month to provide mutual support to our staff.