JDC Helps Emergency Personnel Become Better Managers During Crisis Situations

"When I first hear of an explosion, I physically shake and feel cold," admits Sarit, who works in Health Administration at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. "But I am a manager. I have a duty."

Carrying out this responsibility in the wake of terror attacks is a challenge. "I cannot stop thinking about my family, my friends, wondering which bus exploded and whether someone I love was on it," confesses Sarit.

Sarit and her colleagues at Hadassah recently participated in a training seminar for emergency personnel who function as managers during crisis situations. The seminar was part of JDC's new YUVAL (a Hebrew acronym for Consultation and Support for Emergency Organizations) initiative, established by JDC as part of the UJC Israel Emergency Campaign, in response to the ongoing security conflict.

"In an emergency, doctors and nurses lead teams and manage both the situation and the people working with them," describes Yael, Program Director of YUVAL at JDC. "However," she explains, "a superior doctor or nurse may not possess critical management or leadership skills." It is precisely those skills that can make the difference between both the quality of care and the ability of the staff to function well during a crisis. YUVAL gives front-line providers the support – and a greater awareness of their managerial and organizational skills – they need to do their jobs in times of emergency.

The three-day seminar also provides the professionals with the tools to cope with the sometimes surreal situations they find themselves in.

"A colleague lost a daughter," Sarit recounts. "I lost a friend, a doctor, someone I thought invincible. We are all vulnerable."

The seminar Sarit attended was funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. It was attended by other hospital staff members, "including doctors who sometimes don't realize they need help themselves," Sarit notes. The professionals took part in intensive workshops to help them identify their weaknesses, discover their abilities and learn to work as a team.

"I learned that others feel the same things that I do: palpitations, fear, sweating, cramps, cold," says Sarit. For her, discovering that other staff members – even those she perceives as heroic – experience similar symptoms was a comfort.

Hospital staff, emergency personnel and volunteers at trauma hotlines are among the emergency personnel who are targeted by YUVAL. "As crisis situations multiply and the intensity of the work increases, the tendency to postpone or ignore the care providers and devote all the attention to the direct victims also increases," explains Yael.

When Israel's state of alert became "permanent" with no end in sight, JDC recognized the need to help emergency groups adapt organizationally to the situation.

"In a crisis situation, we tend to focus on what is necessary and urgent for survival," says Yael. "The end result is that the managerial aspects of running an emergency organization are neglected," she adds.

In addition to developing and organizing seminars, JDC has mapped emergency service organizations, conducted needs assessments, and created a brochure to inform emergency services organizations of the availability of this assistance. JDC also has begun to create a support network of Israel’s leading organizations that operate on a "routine emergency" basis.

In addition to hospital staff such as Hadassah, other emergency organizations including members of the Israel National Fire Fighting Authority and ERAN Crisis Hotline have also benefited from this program. Additional emergency organizations have expressed interest in participating in YUVAL in 2004, including hospitals, the Israel Trauma Center-NATAL and the Israel Civil Guard. Each organization receives a tailor-made intervention program that matches its own unique needs.

The seminars are a success. "This workshop has given me the tools to be a better leader – and much more," says Sarit. Even ambivalent senior hospital staff members, like the doctors Sarit made mention of, readily admit the seminars' contribution.

"You have helped a helper," said one senior physician succinctly, adding: "An amazing contribution."