LLUAHSC SCOPE Summer 2001

LLU behavioral health trauma team assists Guam clinic to recover from tragedy

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]

Guam
George Harding IV, MD (left), welcomes James F. Dyer Jr., LCSW, and William McGhee, MD, EdD, home from Guam. Mr. Dyer and Dr. McGhee, members of the LLU International Behavioral Health Trauma Team, were asked by Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic and Wellness Center administrators to help the clinic employees deal with the recent shooting tragedy there.

News reports stated that it was the worst shooting on Guam since World War II. In what began as a typical Monday morning at Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic and Wellness Center (GAC) in Hagatna turned quickly to tragedy when a former employee shot six people, killing two, including his estranged wife.

The shooter was found on the clinic's lower level and shot by a police officer.

He later died in surgery at Guam Memorial Hospital.

Loma Linda University and Medical Center employees were especially concerned for the employees at GAC inasmuch as of June, 2000, approximately 30 of the 200 clinic employees were graduates of Loma Linda University.

Later, George Harding IV, MD, chair, department of psychiatry, School of Medicine, received a call from Mike Mahoney, administrator, GAC, and Robert R. Wresch, MD, director of the eye clinic in Guam and a 1969 graduate of the School of Medicine. They informed Dr. Harding that clinic employees weren't coping well with the shooting, and requested crisis management support for the staff and employees of the clinic.

Dr. Harding then contacted William Murdoch Jr., MD, associate professor of psychiatry, LLUSM, and requested that LLU send a team to help the clinic. Dr. Murdoch, in turn, contacted Beverly J. Buckles, DSW, chair and professor, department of social work, Graduate School.

Dr. Murdoch and Dr. Buckles paged James F. Dyer Jr., LCSW, associate professor, department of social work, Graduate School, and assistant professor, department of psychiatry, LLUSM; and William McGhee, MD, EdD, vice chair and professor, department of psychiatry, LLUSM.

After agreeing to assist GAC on Friday, travel arrangements were made on Monday, and Mr. Dyer and Dr. McGhee left Tuesday morning.

Loaded down with post-trauma information, pamphlets, and other supplies, Dr. McGhee and Mr. Dyer took the next available flight to Hawaii, headed for Guam.

They would spend the next six days, from March 6 through March 13, listening and providing post-trauma support to clinic employees and their families.

Once Mr. Dyer and Dr. McGhee arrived on Guam, they performed a needs assessment of the individuals traumatized by the tragedy.

"We met with employees, nurses, assistants, administrators, and patients who viewed the shooting, and family members of employees. They were reluctant to talk to us initially, but as we met with them they really opened up," says Mr. Dyer.

The pair were given an apartment within walking distance of the clinic where they were able to conduct interviews of the staff.

"It was very important for us to be there to affirm the staff and remind them that they are normal," adds Mr. Dyer.

In addition to post-trauma support, the team also provided a mental health assessment, and looked into what would be available on the island as far as counseling for clinic employees after the trauma team left to return to Loma Linda.

In 1994, Joan Coggin, MD, MPH, special assistant to the chancellor for international affairs, LLU, received a request from Jan Paulsen, DTh, BD, then president of the Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists, to see if there was a possibility of LLU developing a crisis management team to help victims on a global scale.

Dr. Buckles and Dr. Murdoch began the International Behavioral Health Trauma Team in March, 2000, and brought in lecturers to help answer some of the team's questions. Identified team members then attended classes to facilitate immediate responses to trauma crises.

Then the shooting tragedy at Guam occurred, prompting Dr. Buckles and Dr. Murdoch to call the emergency response team into action for the first time.

"Prior to our team members going to Guam, this was all conceptual. Now we know how to do this," elaborates Dr. Murdoch.

"The planning of a crisis response program at Loma Linda University, with leadership from Dr. Murdoch and Dr. Buckles, enabled us to respond promptly to the Guam tragedy," says Dr. Harding, following the Guam shooting.

Currently, a follow-up visit is planned for Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic focusing on mental health education, as well as steps to prevention.

"We hope to return to Guam, not only to facilitate mental health education, but to also take part in a rededication service of the clinic that we understand is being planned," says Dr. Buckles.

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]