YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The country watched for weeks as images of the search-and-rescue operations in the collapse of the South Florida condo continued to pop up.
“They were very methodical in what they did. They worked by hand, sometimes they worked with heavy machinery that moved, so they needed to have that awareness, ”said Tracey Wright, a retired Youngstown firefighter and a member of the Ohio Peer Support Team.
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Wright was one of four members of an Ohio Peer Support Team sent to Surfside, Florida to help first responders and was in the first group to actually be there.
“We were there and watched the team members work on the pile. We were there when they were going to leave, ”Wright said.
The role of the peer team is to provide emotional support and encouragement to those working in the scene, from handshakes to saying thank you to listening.
“Sometimes it was just a way for her to take a break from what was going on. They talked to us about their families. Some of them actually talked about their previous experiences, ”Wright said.
This included helping members of Task Force One from Ohio, who recently returned to Surfside from her own assignment. Most of the team members had been aboard a cruise ship that was about forty minutes from the crime scene. Wright says the message from the peer team was simple.
“You are going through an extraordinary situation, an abnormal situation, so it is perfectly normal that you might have a little more influence over you over time,” Wright said.
And while Wright and her team are back home, those on the front lines have helpers when they are needed.
“In the days, weeks, months that follow, when you need something, we’re there for you,” Wright said.
