The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.
SMJ // Article
Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project
The Role of Clergy in Responding to Disaster Events
Abstract
The day after 9/11, I stood outside St. Vincent’s Hospital in Lower Manhattan and gazed at pictures of people missing from the World Trade Center. Flowers and candles created a shrine-like atmosphere as we absorbed the fact that there were few survivors. The pictures were eerily similar with name, description, last known location—and a plea for information about the missing person. In my reverie, I murmured something about good people pictured on the wall; the woman next to me asked, “Are you from New York?” I responded, “I’m a pastor from the Washington, DC, area.” Upon hearing “pastor,” she blurted out in a desperate plea, “What does the Bible say about this?”This content is limited to qualifying members.
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References
1. Lattanzi-Licht M, Doka KJ. Living with Grief, Coping with Public Tragedy. Washington, DC, Hospice Foundation of America, 2003, pp. 15–25.
2. Everly GS. The role of pastoral crisis intervention in disasters, terrorism, violence, and other community crises. Int J Emerg Ment Health 2000;2:139–142.
3. US Agency for International Development. Field Operations Guide for Disaster Assessment and Response (FOG), 2005. Available at: http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/fog_v3.pdf. Accessed on December 23, 2006.
4. Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. Available at: http://www.acpe.edu. Accessed on December 23, 2006.
5. The National Organization for Victim Assistance. Available at: http://www.trynova.org. Accessed on December 23, 2006.
6. International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Available at: http://www.icisf.org. Accessed on December 23, 2006.
