In the midst of all the excitement of the normal flow of business, I just wanted to take a moment to remember what occured on this date in 2001. There is no way any of us who were around that day will ever forget the horrific tragedy that occured. Many innocent folks died that day and many more families and friends were left with deep scars. But there were also many heroes that day. For it was that day that we all came together to assist our fellow citizens.
Who can forget the police and fire personnel; not just from New York but from all over the world. And how about the medical personnel, also from all over the world. But I want to also make mention of those mental health workers, crisis counselors and employee assistance professionals who responded to the call and continue even today to deal with the effects of that terrible tragedy.
I remember coming out of a staff meeting and hearing that the plane had hit the first tower and then a few minutes later about the second plane hitting the second tower and then the one that flew into the Pentagon. It was surreal and, at first, I was incredulous. It had to be a mistake or rumor. But no. It was quite true. From that moment, I was faced with the task of serving all of our client organizations as all were either directly or indirectly affected. But I also had to deal with the effect on my staff; all of whom were worried about their own families. At that moment, we made a decision to let all staff know that we all needed to brace ourselves for a long and arduous journey helping our client organizations and their employees and family members. But we also wanted everyone to know that their families and own needs superceded all else. Anyone who was afraid in these early hours that they too were in danger were encouraged to go home. Here is where a remarkable thing occured. No one left his or her post. We all took our posts and even those who went home to check in on their families, remained on call. And this lasted for many months for after the initial couple of days, many felt the residual effects of the trauma.
Let me say though that Perspectives was not the only EAP and workplace resources organization that had such committment and dedication to helping out. And that is what I really want to emphasize. The professionals in the EAP field were and are a very dedicated and passionate group that came through then and continue to come through even now.
I have been in this field for almost 30 years and it is this kind of dedication and committment to helping that has made these years so wonderful. It is easy to focus on all that is wrong in the world but today lets reflect on the tragedy and observe a moment of silence for those lost and affected but let’s also focus on the goodness of people.
Tags: 9/11, EAP, employee assistance, september 11
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