In the News

Be Ready for Hurricane Season:
Crisis Response Training at Golden Palms:
Helps Leaders Assist Disaster Victims such as Katrina

HARLINGEN –  A National Crisis Response Training program is being held at Golden Palms Retirement Center, 2101 Treasure Hills Blvd, across from Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen, starting April 20, 2006.  The program -- which is being held for the first time in the Valley -- is a timely preparation for hurricane season, which begins in June.  

The Basic National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA) Training prepares community leaders to help groups of affected people to cope with their immediate emotional reactions when a crisis strikes their community. The program is designed for law enforcement officers; public safety, fire, EMS, and first responders personnel; public and private school officials; mental health professionals; disaster relief leaders; victim advocates; counselors; and clergy and ministers.

The training equips leaders to plan for longer-term emotional support and assists teams to begin the process of developing their own community-based crisis response program. The 40-hour training covers the techniques of providing crisis intervention. It gives participants the fundamentals on crisis and trauma, and how these are filtered through the victim’s age and culture.

The training is being held on five Thursdays (April 20, April 27, May 4, May 18, and May 25, 2006), from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

Instructor for the program is Dr. Bobby Smith, Texas State NOVA Training Director and Director of Chaplaincy Relations for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. For information on registration and fees for the program -- which is being offered at a 50 percent discount by Valley Baptist and the Baptist General Convention of Texas -- please contact Karen Smith of the Valley Baptist Pastoral Services Dept. at (956) 389-1194 or by e-mail by clicking here; or Reba Gram at (214) 828-5277 or by e-mail by clicking here.