WORKLOAD PILING UP FOR CENTRE
Workload piling up for centre
By JACKIE McKEOWN
THE YOUNGEST person to receive help from Omagh's trauma centre is just two years old. The oldest is 76.
In between, are 500 , men, women and children - bereaved, injured, or traumatised. A team of 20 full-time staff - social workers, nurses, psychologists and therapists - has worked solidly for the past year to bring some peace to these victims.
Their work is far from over, as nurse therapist Sean Collins explains: "At the start, people were coming in to us with acute problems- flashbacks, nightmares, depression.
Chronic
"But the longer people have left it to seek help, the more chronic, and ingrained, the difficulties have become."
Sean is part of the hand-picked team working at the Bridge Centre in the heart of the town.
Set up by the Sperrin/ Lakeland Trust, in association with voluntary groups, the trauma centre is the first of its kind in Ulster to help with the physical, and emotional, effects of an atrocity.
Said Sean: "It's not just the injured, and bereaved, who are coming through to us. A large number of those we have seen are witnesses - people who have seen the full horror, and walked away. "Some feel guilty because they survived, and others feel guilty because they couldn't help, even though no-one could have helped in that situation."
Effects vary - some are always on the alert, scared to go near un-familiar cars, and afraid to venture out.
The impact on the district's young is shown in the number who approached the centre for help - more than 140, out of 500 referrals. This first anniversary, like Christmas, is a time when staff are expecting an influx of calls.
The Bridge Centre can be contacted on 01662-252599.
By JACKIE McKEOWN
THE YOUNGEST person to receive help from Omagh's trauma centre is just two years old. The oldest is 76.
In between, are 500 , men, women and children - bereaved, injured, or traumatised. A team of 20 full-time staff - social workers, nurses, psychologists and therapists - has worked solidly for the past year to bring some peace to these victims.
Their work is far from over, as nurse therapist Sean Collins explains: "At the start, people were coming in to us with acute problems- flashbacks, nightmares, depression.
Chronic
"But the longer people have left it to seek help, the more chronic, and ingrained, the difficulties have become."
Sean is part of the hand-picked team working at the Bridge Centre in the heart of the town.
Set up by the Sperrin/ Lakeland Trust, in association with voluntary groups, the trauma centre is the first of its kind in Ulster to help with the physical, and emotional, effects of an atrocity.
Said Sean: "It's not just the injured, and bereaved, who are coming through to us. A large number of those we have seen are witnesses - people who have seen the full horror, and walked away. "Some feel guilty because they survived, and others feel guilty because they couldn't help, even though no-one could have helped in that situation."
Effects vary - some are always on the alert, scared to go near un-familiar cars, and afraid to venture out.
The impact on the district's young is shown in the number who approached the centre for help - more than 140, out of 500 referrals. This first anniversary, like Christmas, is a time when staff are expecting an influx of calls.
The Bridge Centre can be contacted on 01662-252599.
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/093
Published Date: 15-Aug-99
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