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Since this past July, six community leaders from Charlestown have had monthly meetings with two clinicians to form the Coalition's Trauma Response Group.
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Learning how to apply tourniquets
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This effort was made possible by grant funding received through Boston Alliance for Community Health.
A key group objective is to work with the clinicians around processing some of the traumatic situations that they have been responding to and enhancing their trauma response skills. They would like to identify productive ways of dealing with the repercussions of these situations, for themselves, and for the individuals that they are assisting. They are also seeking to better address the racism, race-based conflict, and divisions that persist in Charlestown.
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Learning from Dr. King's training associate
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B
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bringing in leaders from both sides of these neighborhood divisions, we are looking for opportunities for collaboration and understanding --to prevent further violence, and to reduce the systemic racism that many people of color experience while living in Charlestown.
We are also in the process of planning a city-wide youth unification initiative. Stay tuned for me details.
Finally, in August, participants took part in a training led by Dr. David King, a Mass General trauma surgeon who created the "Stop the Bleed" training after responding to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings. Stop the Bleed is a national campaign designed to teach people how to correctly apply pressure to bullet wounds and administer
tourniquets
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Learning how to compress bullet wounds
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to injured limbs.
The training was incredibly informative and helped to strengthen bonds among Trauma Response Group participants who reflected on shared experiences with community violence.
A special thanks to Luis Rodriguez, George Dighton, Lori D'Alleva, John Shea, Elaine Donovan, Smokey Cain, Sid Mondell, Lisa Sol
omon, and Hewitt Joyner for getting the group off to a great start!
To learn more about the Trauma Response Group's work, or Stop the Bleed training, email Olivia Larkin
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