In a statewide effort to improve emergency response to a flu pandemic, Portsmouth and state health and emergency officials met with local clergy at the Jarvis Center at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Tuesday to discuss the church's role during a major disaster.
The session was part of a statewide tour that aims to keep local church leaders informed about what services will be available if there is a disastrous event.
The focus wasn't only on where to go and who to call for help, food and water, but how much a community needs members of the clergy for support during and after a devastating event.
"In a disaster, people are going to two places: They are going to hospitals and the emergency room to seek care ... and they are going to their clergy," said Paul Deignan from the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
He said that after an event like Hurricane Katrina, some may have trouble sleeping, start abusing drugs or alcohol or become agitated at the slightest thing. Clergy will be needed to talk people through these stressful times, he said, and find them help if necessary.
Clergy are also important to medical and emergency officials in helping find those who need extra help during a disaster, like the ill or elderly, Deignan said.
Large numbers of people can be emotionally affected even if, for example, one or two people in a community die of the flu, Deignan said. Clergy will be needed not only to comfort, but to ease worries and anxiety about what could happen next.
Nicola Whitley of the state Department of Health and Human Services spoke about media relations and how to get correct information out to the public. People want to know what is going on and can become anxious when they don't know what to do or how to help, she said.
Fred White, disaster behavioral health liaison, said he and his team responded last fall to the Alstead flood, where he saw the immediate concern was getting medical help and finding shelter.
"In the end, it was their faith that was going to help them take that next step," White said.
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