Victoria Folse

IWU's Folse Assists in Peer Counseling the Policemen of 9/11

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – For New York City police and firemen, confronting the emotions elicited by the anniversary of September 11 is apt to be a challenge. An Illinois Wesleyan nursing professor hopes to play some role in helping the law enforcement officers deal with those issues.

Victoria Folse, assistant professor of nursing at IWU, is part of a four-member team from Illinois which is in New York this week to provide peer counseling and support to law enforcement officers who were affected by the tragedy of September 11.

Joining Folse, who is also a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan’s School of Nursing, are three police officers: Illinois State Troopers Mike Conner, Deb Dell and Peoria County Lt. George Blackburn. Their participation is a joint effort between the International Critical Instance Stress Foundation (ICISF) and the Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance (POPPA).

"One of the challenges in dealing with the anniversary of September 11 is that people who were direct responders at the time will be reliving it again. The media coverage will be phenomenal, and if the victims have had some success in reducing the intensity of what they’ve been experiencing, they’ll relive it again that week."

ICISF has responded throughout the entire year by sending teams to New York City in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Since last September 11, there have been approximately 160 teams to deal exclusively with law enforcement. Equal numbers have also responded in similar fashion to work with other emergency service branches.

Folse’s branch of this effort, The Heart of Illinois Critical Incident Stress Management Team (CISM), a volunteer organization, has been invited to New York because of the group’s expertise with law enforcement personnel.

"CISM is really a peer-based program. It’s talking to fellow police officers about feelings they can expect as a result of their experiences with the tragedy. My role is important but is actually secondary because we want the officers talking to fellow officers. My role is to make assessment and referral as needed," says Folse.

Folse stresses the importance of peer support in this effort saying, "What officers can do with fellow officers is very different from a police officer coming to my office and my asking them how they are thinking or feeling." The peer counseling is an effort not only to help the individual officers, but also to keep them on the job as well as keeping their families healthy and intact.

"One of the things that CISM also does well is to debrief the debriefers," says Folse. The support teams providing service to individuals affected by 9/11 will also be impacted by what they see and hear. The groups will meet in the morning to talk about what needs exist, and they will meet again in the evening to talk about what they have experienced. This is to ensure that the groups remain emotionally healthy and able to provide services to others.

Although it is an honor for Folse and her team to be invited to New York City as the only team from Illinois, she says that "The day to day responses in our own communities are equally important and meaningful. To go into any emergency medical service agency or fire department and help their members get through something that was tremendous, is very rewarding to me."