SP Citizens Corps: HOPE dogs, Red Cross focus of special meeting

March 30, 2016
Santa Paula News

There was Rustee, Cigfa and Teddy all lined up for an evening of learning about the aftermath of emergency or disaster and all three of the dogs a vital component of healing. And a representative of the Red Cross also spoke of emergency and disaster response, all the focus of the March 8 program sponsored by the Santa Paula Citizens Corps featuring HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (AACR).

The free program was held at the Santa Paula Community Center where members of the public got to meet and hear about HOPE dogs, second responder teams that take care of emotional needs in the time of need. 

HOPE dogs and their handlers, all volunteers, are involved in the Pacific Southwest Region.

HOPE, according to the organization’s website, provides “wordless love, quiet companionship, and a brief respite for those affected by crisis…”

Pam Bertz and Rustee, Constance Howell and Cigfa as well as Katherine Jarrett and Teddy socialized with attendees before the program started including Mayor Martin Hernandez, Vice Mayor Jenny Crosswhite and Councilman John Procter.

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face,” are the wise words of author Ben Williams, the catchphrase of HOPE.

Organizer Samantha Frady introduced Hernandez who welcomed the guests and said although he was pleased to learn about HOPE, “Hopefully we’ll not need to invite them back here for any kind of response,” due to an emergency or disaster.

Unlike Santa Paula Police and Fire, several that attended the meeting, HOPE comes in after the first responders to deal with people’s emotional needs. 

The organization has responded to school campuses to help students and staff deal with the sudden death of a teacher or student, visited major disaster areas where destruction and death is wide spread and dealt with school shooter incidents. There is no response too big or too small for HOPE dogs and their handlers.

Laura Hernandez outlined LISTOS, a Spanish-speaking program for emergency preparedness that recently drew hundreds of people to the community center for a meeting about El Nino.

Howell and Bertz told of HOPE: “It’s not a first responder,” said Howell. “…our mission is to comfort people,” following disaster or trauma.

“Our animals are not service dogs, and we must be asked to come,” in response to an incident.

Founded in 1998, HOPE is vigilant about making sure they can spot the signs of stress in the dogs as well as their handlers, all whom are volunteers, a necessity after teams responded to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.

There are now about 250 HOPE teams certified in the United States broken into five regions; handlers must attend continuing education. 

Bertz noted HOPE has worked with the American Red Cross although the organization has a policy of not letting animals into shelters.

One boy who had already lost his mother was involved in a house fire that killed his cat and his father collapsed from a heart attack. It wasn’t until a HOPE team was called in that the boy agreed to be checked by a medic as long as the dog accompanied him.

On a much larger scale, HOPE teams were called months after the fact to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help survivors. HOPE teams have even been used to coax a classroom of children back to the playground following a campus incident. 

“We do the big ones such as Katrina or small ones like an apartment fire,” said Bertz. “They all need comfort…”

The American Red Cross supplies the comfort of food and shelter and Mike Ewens, the ARC Ventura County Mass Care Manager and a retired U.S. Army Colonel, has been there for others for decades.

Ewens told of his experiences including running the largest Red Cross shelter housing 7,000 following Katrina. 

He noted that Santa Paulans must plan: “We’re faced with a world of disasters,” and residents should be prepared to be able to take care of their own and their families needs for three to five days.

Ewens said emergency responders would be overwhelmed and, due to its surroundings, the city could be isolated.

Having cash in small bills is important: “There’s a disaster and then nothing works including credit card machines…you need to have cash,” said Ewens. 

He urged citizens to have important documentation, insurance paperwork and cards, medication, and other important items at the ready.

At shelters, he noted, “We’ve had people show up and they forgot their insulin!” 

Santa Paula could face fires from an apartment to wild lands, floods, slides, toxic gases and explosions — “We’ve already had that!” said Ewens referring to the November 2014 incident at Santa Clara Waste Water – Green Compass — as well as trying to deal with those escaping from their own disaster.

The model of the results of an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Los Angeles shows that about 400,000 could be killed and “four to five million could escape the city,” to safety.

No matter the emergency or disaster said Ewens, “It’s your job to take care of yourself first and then others…”





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