Brooks-Powers describes constituent trauma and asks about mental health resources
Brooks-Powers describes a mother and five children trapped upstairs during the active crime scene, stepping over blood and bodies, and says the constituent still feels unsupported. She asks what resources exist for trauma and what the city's responsibility is; Farrell says Red Cross can provide mental health counseling but NYCEM usually focuses on utilities and will identify the right follow-up agency.
I know there was a family, there's a mom with five children who lived upstairs in that house, and they felt...
Quite honestly, and were hostages because, of course, it's a crisis.
No one knows who's who at that initial moment.
And so for a very long time, her and her kids were pretty much not permitted to leave their apartment upstairs, having to step over.
Blood and dead bodies thereafter.
And to this day, that constituent has felt like there has not been enough done for her and her family in terms of dealing with the trauma.
or treating them as the victims of what transpired there that had nothing to do with her or her family.
What, I guess, resources are in play for moments like this?
And what is the city's responsibility?
I will have to get, so obviously at the beginning it was a police investigation, and then as you mentioned, I know that when Red Cross does get involved, you know, they do.
Do some mental health counseling and look at things like that.
You know, any type of impacted resident services and things, those are not things that emergency management is usually involved in as we're focused on, you know, the utilities and all of those pieces.
You know, obviously the trauma and the things that come along with this are serious and life-changing, as you said.
So we can go back and look exactly who the right person is to follow up on that question.
I'd appreciate that.