“In Their Own Words: People With Intellectual Disabilities Talk About Rape” – NPR
“Yes, it’s happened to me. It was a staff person. It started out where he was buying pop for me and candy for me at, it was called, the canteen. … Then one time he asked me to come down in the basement. He wanted to show me something. And I trusted him. That’s where that happened.” — Sam Maxwell, Meadville, Pa.
“Debbie Robinson has been a leader and an advocate, in Pennsylvania and across the country, for people with disabilities. – Meg Anderson/NPR”
“Editor’s note: This report includes descriptions of sexual assault.
“Somebody with an intellectual disability by definition has difficulty learning, reasoning or problem-solving.
“But many often think deeply about the things that affect them — and the things that isolate them, like sexual assault.
“As part of its investigation into the hidden epidemic of sexual violence faced by this group of Americans, NPR reached out to people with intellectual disabilities across the country to hear their voices, what they have to say about the sexual assaults they’ve survived, and how those experiences have affected their lives.”
Read this article in its entirety (and listen to their stories) at NPR here.
“‘Nothing could have prepared us for this event.’ | Heroes of Las Vegas: the hospital staff called to action after the mass shooting” – The Guardian
by Dan Hernandez in Las Vegas. Pictures by Hector Torres
“Heather Brown with Thea Parish and Tatiana Banassevitch.” Photograph: Hector Torres for the Guardian
“Sunrise Hospital’s emergency room was already full at about 10pm on 1 October when a police officer dropping off an accident victim received a call on his radio announcing: ‘Shots fired.’
“Doctor Kevin Menes and nurse Rhonda Davis looked up from their charts. ‘Is this for real?’ Menes asked. A series of gunshots crackled through the officer’s radio in automatic bursts. It sounded like a combat zone. As he ran out, the officer said, ‘That’s the Route 91 concert.
“Immediately, Menes realized there would be hundreds if not thousands of victims, and Sunrise – Las Vegas’s largest trauma center and the hospital nearest to the site of the country music festival – would probably receive the most.
“He and Davis started to prepare.”
Continue reading this article at The Guardian.
More …
Key in responding or reacting to incidents for any agency, entity, organization is having understanding of the nation’s Incident Command System (ICS) – introduced following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Since then agencies, municipalities, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other organizations across the united States have continued to learn, train, develop plans and refine their ICS and emergency planning.
These resources can help your agency, entity or organization begin the planning process.
- CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule – effective November 2016
For more information or for assistance about planning for emergencies and critical incidents that “are never gonna’ happen here”, send an email to blllink@mail.com.
“Years After Silently Combating Sexual Trauma, Female Veterans Seek Help” – California Healthline
“Sheila Procella of Plano, Texas, is a veteran of both the U.S. Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard. She was diagnosed with military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2014, nearly three decades after her service. (Laura Buckman for Kaiser Health News)”
“Sheila Procella joined the Air Force in 1974 to ‘see the Earth,’ she said. She enlisted at the tail end of the Vietnam War, shortly after graduating from high school. Although she never left her home state of Texas during eight years of service, her office job proved to be its own battlefield.
“‘Some of us actually went to war, some of us had war right here in the States, going to work every day knowing we are going to be harassed,’ said Procella, now 62 and living in Plano, Texas.
“At the time, fewer than 3 percent of service members were women. Procella recalled the daily barrage of sexual comments, gestures and men grabbing her inappropriately. And one of her superiors made it clear that her hopes of moving up the career ladder were dependent on having sex with him.”
Read this article at California Healthline in its entirety, click here.
