Lee Ann Summersgill and Donna Askew hold hands for a living.
Any day now, they may be holding the hands of relatives and friends of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
“We are on stand by,” said Askew. “We may possibly be going up next [this] week, but it is being coordinated from a national level.”
Summersgill is the program manager for the sexual assault response center at the City’s victim services center. Askew is the director of the victim’s advocacy unit at the state attorney’s office.
“I’m not going in that capacity,” said Summersgill of her day job. “I’m the regional coordinator for the Northeast Florida Crisis Response Team.”
Summersgill has been a social worker since 1996 while Askew has been at it for 16 years. Both jobs have led them to become members of the local and state sections of the national Organization of Victims Assistance.
“We have been told that over the next four to six weeks, there will be rotating teams from Florida going,” said Summersgill, adding they may get the call this week, next week or not at all.
Along with everyone else in their line of work, they have held many hands, given thousands of hugs, wiped away many a tear and probably shed a few of their own. While no victim, no matter the severity of the crime, is unimportant, Summersgill admits the carnage and broken lives they may encounter in New York will be another level of grief.
“I really don’t think anything can prepare us for what we might encounter,” said Summersgill. “All the book knowledge, all the human emotion, all flies out the window.”
Summersgill said the magnitude of the attacks and the number of victims will make the week in New York the most challenging she’s ever faced. The group that will make the trip will have to deal with not only the families of victims and survivors, but also friends and co-workers of those who were affected both directly and indirectly by the attacks.
“There are families that lost people and the [New York/New Jersey] Port Authority has asked us to counsel policemen and firemen and their families,” said Summersgill. “Also, the State of New Jersey has asked for our assistance.”
There are 23 members of the local crisis team, but not all of them will make the trip. Summersgill said the size of the group will depend on individual availability. Some will have to stay to tend to their everyday jobs, while those go will get see and feel the devastation first-hand.
“What we have been put on stand by to do is crisis intervention and debriefing with those who have lost family members,” said Summersgill. “It’s essentially counseling. We will also train their local mental health and victim advocacy teams.”
The local crisis team is just one of several scattered all over the state. One of the factors that will dictate when the local team heads to New York is whether or not their turn comes up.
“We’ve been told that over the next four to six weeks they will be rotating teams from Florida,” said Summersgill, who has been trained for work like this for about three years. “There’s a lot of grieving going on up there. We will rely on our training, the grace of God and the trust we have in each other as a team.”
As much as she’d like to make a significant impact on everyone she meets lives, Summersgill is realistic in her approach to the pending trip.
“We know we will not be able to heal those people,” she said. “Our goal is to make things easier and let them know there is hope.”
Summersgill also said her crisis response team is looking for members and anyone interested in joining the effort can contact her at the victim services center.