By EMS1 Staff
JERUSALEM — The Israel Rescue Coalition dispatched a psychological aid team to help Hurricane Harvey victims with mental and emotional stabilization.
Israel Rescue Coalition reported that a team of psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists from United Hatzalah were sent to Houston to help people cope with the disaster.
“People need help on the ground,” United Hatzalah Vice President Dov Maisel said. “‘They need to be able to wrap their minds around what was lost and they need assistance figuring out how to cope and where to go from here. That is the biggest challenge currently facing all Houston residents who have suffered during Hurricane Harvey.”
“There are thousands of displaced people who are currently living in shelters across the area. We were told that search and rescue, as well as EMS assistance, were not needed at this time, but the option is there to send a second team comprised of experts in those areas should we be asked to bring them,” Maisel added.
Leading the mission is Miriam Ballin, Director of United Hatzalah’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit and a Houston native.
“I am happy to be given the opportunity to head back to my hometown and help during this time of crisis. Our team provides the IRC with a new capability developed in Israel that no one else in the world is currently doing, and that is to provide rapid response psychological first aid and trauma support,” Ballin said. “From one ‘lone star state’ to another, we will be there for you.”