State Assemblyman David Weprin (third from right) with members of the Jamaica Hospital Health Disaster Response Team, who were deployed on a disaster relief mission
to Puerto Rico. Photo: Carlotta Mohamed/QNS
Jamaica Hospital welcomes home Puerto Rico
earthquake response team with award ceremony
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 21-27, 2020 3
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A team of mental health professionals
who were deployed
on a disaster relief mission to
Puerto Rico received a warm
welcome back home with a
special reception and award
ceremony at Jamaica Hospital
Medical Center on Friday.
On Feb. 2, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo made the special announcement
that a delegation
of bilingual mental health professionals
were being deployed
to Puerto Rico to provide muchneeded
support to residents recouping
from a string of devastating
earthquakes.
The MediSys Health Network
volunteered a group of six
mental health experts from the
Jamaica Hospital Health Disaster
Response Team to serve on
the mental health relief mission
coordinated by the Greater
New York Hospital Association
(GYNHA).
The team — Frank Lopes
(social worker); Denise Osorto
(social worker); Alberto Palomino
(clinical manager); Martha
Edelman (CPEP medical
director); Attilio Rizzo (chief
social service psychiatry); and
Jennifer Santos (psychologist)
— returned to New York
on Feb. 10.
In celebration of their humanitarian
work in Puerto
Rico, State Assemblyman David
Weprin presented each
team member with a certificate
from the New York State
Assembly.
“What you did going to
Puerto Rico to assist — and I
know that a number of mental
health initiatives from all of
the suffering people have gone
through and dealing with the
issues post earthquake and
hurricane — I commend all of
you,” said Weprin, who visited
the island in November.
Although the earthquakes
— which began on Dec. 28, 2019
and continue to occur — have
caused hundreds of millions
of dollars in property damage,
the greatest impact of the catastrophic
events is reflected in
the mental health of the island’s
residents. The devastation has
left many people feeling hopeless
and fearful. Several have
been diagnosed with mental
health disorders such as depression,
anxiety and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD).
“The need for mental health
support on the island was overwhelming.
We realized that
survivors were in great need
of our assistance, and this
prompted us to respond with
urgency to serve on the mental
health relief mission,” said
Mark Marino, director of Pre-
Hospital Care.
According to Marino, the
team was deployed to shelters
and camps in Guanica, Guayanilla
and Ponce on Feb. 3. Jamaica
Hospital’s mental health
professionals were integrated
into the work of the Puerto
Rico Administration of Mental
Health and Anti-Addiction
Services.
Each day, during their weeklong
mission, the team separated
into two groups to canvass
the south-west part of the
island. One group led by Edelman,
worked at camps in various
locations as well as a park
used as an informal school for
children.
“There was a nonprofit
teachers association and they
had 165 kids in that park trying
to do classes for kindergarteners
through third grade for two
hours each morning,” Edelman
said. “I saw amazing, strong
loving people who are trying to
help each other.”
According to Edelman,
buildings are either destroyed
or undermined to the point
where people are unable to live
in it.
“Here and there is a building
where people can still be
in, but in general, those homes
were built to withstand hurricanes,
not an earthquake. They
were on stilts,” Edelman said.
“People are also not sleeping.
They’re very anxious and are
experiencing panic attacks.”
Describing the trip as a
“life changing experience and
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,”
Edelman said the team
members are still adjusting on
their return back to New York.
“It’s a sharp contrast — the
kind of work we do in mental
health is exposure to a lot of
suffering, and so we have a lot
of ways in coping with that and
this was different,” Edelman
said.
The other group, led by
Rizzo, was deployed to different
neighborhoods in mountainous
areas, where they conducted
door-to- door canvassing and
provided home visits to those
in need.
According to Rizzo, a database
called Go Canvas was
created to gather information
on 1,200 patients evaluated in
Puerto Rico.
“It was about what they were
experiencing and what types
of symptoms, specifically to
whatever they claimed to what
was making them feel that way,
which was the tremors,” Rizzo
said. “They’re still working
on that database and we don’t
know the complete results, but
when we do, we’ll figure out
how to help them down there.
We’re hoping we can develop
another plan.”
Santos said amid the destruction
she observed a resilient
community.
“We saw people who are
strong and community-oriented,”
Santos said. “Even though
we were there to assist them,
you could see the resilience and
culture that assisted them to
move forward and look into the
future.”
Anthony Maffia, vice president
of Psychiatry, said, “Jamaica
Hospital is proud to have
served on this mission and
hope that by supporting the
victims of the earthquakes, we
were able to help them to recover
from traumatic events and
rebuild their lives.”
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