Posted on 05/02/21
The Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit (PCRU)of United Hatzalah began on Saturday night to hold debriefs and counseling sessions for all of its volunteers as well as first responders from other organizations who were present at the tragedy in Meron. There were 12 group sessions were held in different cities on Saturday night simultaneously. The sessions will be continuing throughout the week. The unit consists of trained psychologists and therapists who treat people at the scenes of traumatic medical emergencies and counsel first responders who responded to traumatic emergencies on a regular basis. The unit was present during the Meron festival and resulting tragedy and volunteers treated hundreds of people for emotional shock and distress as a result of the incident, including many first responders.
The cities which held the sessions include, Petach Tikvah, Netanya, Ashdod, Jerusalem (in several locations), Beit Shemesh, Tevaria, Bnei Brak, Haifa, Tzefat, Har Meron, and Elad.
More sessions will be held throughout the week in additional cities and will the PCRU will also be providing support to individual first responders who request it.
In a new initiative, the unit will also be providing assistance to English-speaking students or groups studying in yeshivot and seminaries and other gap-year programs who were traumatized by the incident. For more information regarding this initiative or to receive assistance for a specific school or group please contact - PsyD. Jennifer Maltz at 054-592-4625
