Rev. Terryann Talbot-Moses, Entering the Trauma Bay after receiving a call that a homicide of a six year-old and brutal beating and rape of the child’s mother the atmosphere was cold, sterile and filled with tension. Several law enforcement officers from two jurisdictions stood in cold silence. A few moments after entering this scene, one law enforcement officer said to me, “You have a harder job than mine.” Looking at him with a look of wonder, he continued, “you have to offer forgiveness.” Never in all of my training and education was I prepared for that comment. However, what followed was directly involved with my training in critical incident stress management and as a chaplain. What that officer provided was a moment to begin defusing what had happened.

I heard of the incident as a fellow colleague called me for back up at the hospital. It was into that situation that I brought a sense of normalcy to the reactions that were occurring, a sense of stabilization to what was occurring and a listening ear as “hardened, battle-trained” officers struggled with their own reactions and feelings in the midst of a heinous, horrible situation. As I listened and was present for these law enforcement officers, they began to talk, each one shaking their heads in disbelief. The chief said in all of his years of police work, he was not prepared for this incident. The death of anyone is traumatic and difficult to cope with, but the death of a child is even worse. This encounter allowed these officers opportunity to vent and struggle openly with their own reactions. In the moments I shared with these officers, I let them know that their reactions were normal. There were not reasons why this heinous crime happened. As Harold Kushner, in his book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” writes: “An engine bolt breaks on flight 205 instead of flight 209, inflicting tragedy on one random group of families rather than another. There is no message in all of that. There is no reason for those particular people to be afflicted rather than others. These events do not reflect God’s choices. They happen at random, and randomness is another name for chaos, in those corners of the universe where God’s creative light has not yet penetrated. And chaos is evil; not wrong, not malevolent, but evil nonetheless, because by causing tragedies at random, it prevents people from believing in God’s goodness.” (page 53) In subsequent conversations with the Chief, I found out that it took some time for him to recover and none of us could make sense out the senseless.

At Altoona Regional Health System, located in Central Pennsylvania, we are Level II Regional Trauma Center. This is but one of the countless numbers of traumas that we encounter on a daily basis. Each year the numbers of trauma cases increases last year alone we had over 1600 cases. This year’s numbers will top that. As a member of the trauma service team, I am the one who, most generally, encounters family members first. It is in that initial and subsequent time that I begin to put my skills to work as a Board Certified Crisis Chaplain. My training as a chaplain, critical incident stress management and my 24 years as an ordained minister have all aided in my development in providing traumatic stress care to people facing the worst times in their life.

The Comprehensive Acute Traumatic Stress Management model as outlined by Mark D. Lerner, PhD., and Raymond D. Shelton, PhD. serve valuably in our trauma center. Not only does my training along with this model serve to help people in traumatic situations, it further aids me as I train my staff (7 full-time, 1 part-time and 7 casual chaplains) and as I provided outreach to staff and area clergy as well. Due to lack of training and hectic schedules staff and area clergy do not always take the time to look at things from this critical perspective. The working nature of CATSM assists us in looking at the situation and the individual in which allow us to connect and ground them in their traumatic crisis. I, along with my staff, are able to provide continued support and lead people into the future be that future of restored physical and spiritual health or a state that leads them into the eternal presence of God.

My educational experience includes a B.S. Degree in Music from The King’s College, Briarcliff Manor, New York, a Master of Divinity Degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary along with 24 years of experience as an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I am further endorsed, since 1993 in Specialized Pastoral Care Ministry through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I have 2.5 units of Clinical Pastoral Education, Level I and 3 units at Level II. I have gone through several trainings in Critical Incident Stress Management, am a Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress and Board Certified Crisis Chaplain through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress.