In Alabama, our SRT lead, Rich Gorman has 12 SRTs there with him and I
am recruiting 14 more for the next two weeks. Working in Integrated
Care Teams with Health Services (RN's), Disaster Mental Health
(licensed), Client Casework, and Spiritual Care, 25-30 Teams have been
sent out today to make contact with the families of fatalities and the
injured to make condolence calls and/or provide support. This is an
unprecedented and historic model of service and care for a disaster
response organization. In our healthcare systems, we're used to working
as members of healthcare teams. Some of you may know Jane Morgan, who
has been brought into NHQ to manage all the Integrated Care Teams in the
11 states where we currently have operations.

From our American Red Cross Spiritual Care Task Force, we have Rich
Gorman and Leonard Favorite in Alabama, and in Mississippi, we have
George Abrams and Linda Walsh-Garrison.

I now need an experienced disaster spiritual care manager to lead the
operation in Birmingham for at least the next 10 days/two weeks. If you
can deploy and serve as our SRT lead, please let me know. Richard
leaves on Saturday to return home, and I would like at least one day
overlapping to make for a smoother transition.

Further complicating matters, our new DSHR management and deployment
system has sent several inappropriate volunteers from chapters around
the country who have not received the promised national spiritual care
guidance and are clearly not prepared for a mass fatality or
catastrophic response. I'm working with Staffing to make sure this is
prevented 'the next time'. This is not a deployment for a first year
MDiv student!

If you're available, I would like to get you legal in our system so I
can expeditiously deploy you. Many may not be aware that after one year
without and annual health care update, you are archived and are no
longer deployable. It takes at least one day to clear this up....even
if you can't go to Alabama, at least update your annual Health Record
through your closest chapter so that you can be deployable.

New spiritual care volunteers will be mentored. Let your training
empower you and assuage your anxiety. What you do everyday in a
hospital emergency room transfers to the disaster arena--working with
the impacted and traumatized--in unfathomable devastation. Normally
having the most deaths in one state in one day would remain news for
more than one day. The needs are great.

On another note, be gentle with yourselves in these next days, as the
death of Osama Bin Laden, and the interviews with those who lost loved
ones on September 11th, may be bringing up lots of emotions and
accumulated stuff that is piggy-backing on top of these deaths in the
South. Repeated images of the World Trade Center and the President's
visit to Ground Zero tomorrow will keep this on the front pages and in
our collective consciousness as we remember the sad, compelling stories
of those lost and those who remain as we look toward the 10th
anniversary of the attacks.

We give thanks for those of you who gave service through the American
Red Cross and our valued professional spiritual care and faith community
partners, even as we once again ask for your assistance in staffing the
current big disasters. Each one is unique. Each one is different.
Don't compare them. As big as Katrina, or larger than Gustav, may not
help, but it does illustrate the magnitude. Alabama has pre-existing
disaster conditions of poverty and need, that were compounded by this
tornado last week. Let me know if you can serve for any part of the
next two weeks.

Thanks so much for your consideration and willingness to serve.

Earl

Earl E. Johnson, MDiv, BCC
Senior Associate, Spiritual Care, Disaster Partnerships
American Red Cross NHQ
2025 E. St., NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.303.8642