Volunteers assist trauma survivors

When Marina Saravia started volunteering with Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc. in March 2004, she saw working with the organization, which sends trained citizen volunteers to the scene of traumatic events to lend emotional support to victims and their families in the first hours after a tragedy, as a way to challenge herself.

"I guess I wondered if I could do it," Saravia said. "You're right there at the scene. You see things. But it hasn't affected me adversely. I still go on calls a couple of times each month.

"I believe in the program so much. If we weren't there, people would be all alone. They wouldn't know what to do. It's a good feeling when you walk away from a call and you know you've helped someone."

The organization, which was founded in 1985 and now has programs in more than 100 cities, sends volunteers to crime and accident scenes when requested by authorized police officers, firefighters, paramedics or hospital personnel. Volunteers help victims and their families arrange for food, shelter, clothing, transportation, follow-up services and also help survivors understand what's happening with the coroner, investigators or the mortuary, what will happen next, and who they need to call.

Saravia learned about the program through a newspaper article. Now a senior crisis team manager, she started as a volunteer, then took a position as a crisis trauma manager in July 2004 and became a senior crisis manager in January of this year.

"I think we're one of the valley's best kept secrets, and I really don't want the group to be," Saravia said. "When we are called, it's usually because someone has died. We are called to be there with the survivors and provide emotional and practical support. We're not counselors, but we give survivors a resource guide with information and phone numbers for counseling, or funeral homes, or whatever else they will need."

The program visits casinos to offer services to visitors in case of a crisis, helping people contact family, watching kids while parents are at the hospital, or in the case of a traumatic event like a car accident, helping protect survivors.

"We just try to help," Saravia said. "Maybe we'll need to get them out of the sun, or give them water, or if the media is there, protect them from the media. Sometimes something will happen at a person's home, and if they're in shock, they might need us to remind them to feed their animals. We try to bring them back to earth at that point to do the everyday things they need to do.

"We're there just to give support, and it gets pretty emotional sometimes because we're dealing with people at the worst moment of their lives. It gets pretty crazy because we all know we'll die some day, but we don't plan for it. It's so intense. Volunteers ask sometimes if it's OK if they cry with the survivors. We say the rule of thumb is that you can cry with them, but you can't cry longer or harder."

Saravia said because the work the volunteers do is often very emotional, there is a high turnover rate. Volunteers often need to take breaks from the work, so the organization is constantly in need of new volunteers. The training sessions for new volunteers are held two or three times each year.

"We have people from all walks of life as volunteers, from teenagers to retired citizens," she said. "As long as you have compassion, we'd like you to help."

The training course for new volunteers is 55 hours. After completing training, volunteers are required to work three 12-hour shifts each month, although volunteers do get to pick their shifts.

Saravia said the average call lasts for about two and a half hours, though in the past some have lasted as long as 14 hours.

"We will only go to a call if emergency response is there," she said. "We usually leave when the last emergency response teams leave, though some volunteers have stayed longer if necessary. We never send anyone anywhere where it's not safe. If any area is unsafe, Metro won't call us, and if it's raining they won't call us. They don't want our volunteers getting in accidents on the way."

The local program takes care of all of Clark County, including Boulder City.

Though the organization tries to keep its response time to 20 minutes, Saravia said that's not always possible due to lack of volunteers and the size of the valley. The Las Vegas division of the organization is one of the busiest in the nation, and she thinks it's partially because the valley is so concentrated. She said in areas like Orange County, there are more organizations because there are more cities within a county.

"Right now we only have about 45 volunteers," she said. "Ideally when we get enough volunteers, we could split the city in half and send people on calls that are near their homes. If we had 100 volunteers, that would be so fantastic. To have five people available for every shift would be wonderful."

As things stand now, Saravia said the organization occasionally has to call volunteers that are not on duty and ask them to go to work.

"We will absolutely always be there. If there is a call, we will always send someone, every time," she said. "It might take a little longer than 20 minutes for them to get there, but a volunteer will be there. But with more volunteers, we wouldn't have problems with that."

Saravia said the valley's emergency response agencies appreciate what the organization does, and that volunteering is a good idea for anyone interested in becoming a coroner, joining the fire department or pursuing a medical career.

"It's a good way to get into the field and get used to what you'll see," she said. "Some of the calls are really hard. I feel really bad when it's an older couple, maybe people that have been married for 40 years or something, and one wakes up and finds the other is gone.

"The toughest calls are when you know the survivor will be all alone after you've gone, but that's also when you know your help was needed the most."

Anyone interested in with program can get more information or register for the training class online at www.tiplasvegas.org.