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Badge is no shield against trauma for cops

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Badge is no shield against trauma for cops

By LEAH RAE

THE JOURNALvNEWS

(Original publication: August 7, 2005)

YONKERS — A police badge doesn't shield an officer from the heartbreak of scenes like the one July 29, when two toddlers were found lifeless, scorched by water from an overflowing bathtub.

But over time, said 26-year veteran Officer Richard Rubin, emergency workers can build on their experiences and learn to manage the emotional side of the job.

"Every cop has his first fatal accident, his first dead child. Gruesome destruction of a body beyond belief. And you deal with it individually," Rubin said.

"It would be equatable to a doctor who loses a patient on the table," Rubin said. "You build on that. And you have to be able to say, 'You know what? I did the best I could do.' "

Rushing to the flooded apartment the morning of July 29, Rubin and Officer Michele Piciulli found 2-year-old Elijaha Santana in a state of cardiac arrest, in the arms of his father. Rubin gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the child as Piciulli assisted by compressing the boy's chest.

The mother was apparently taking her other child, a 1-year-old, down to the lobby as the two officers rode up in the elevator at 77 Locust Hill Ave., Rubin said. Firefighters came to the aid of the younger child, and crews from Empress Ambulance took over attempts to revive the children.

Elijaha and his half-brother, David Maldonado Jr., were pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Medical Center. Police said the children had been left in the bathroom and exposed to the scalding hot water for more than 2 1/2 hours. Their parents are in Westchester County jail, facing charges.

A week after the incident, Rubin, Piciulli and other officers from the city's 4th Precinct discussed the tragedy and their response to it.

Six officers and a firefighter were removed from duty and debriefed by stress counselors immediately after the incident. Rescuers from Empress Ambulance, which sent five people to the scene, took part in a group discussion by a "critical incident stress management team."

Such debriefings are part of a method developed in the 1980s and now widely accepted among emergency departments. They are essentially conversations between the affected workers and people in the same profession — fellow firefighters, police officers, medics, dispatchers and nurses — who are trained to get the conversation going.

Peers make good confidants, because "they spoke the same language. They've worn the same T-shirt," said Paul Jockimo of Somers, a consultant who trains stress-management teams around the country. Sometimes a mental health professional or a chaplain will assist. The discussions are not a form of psychotherapy, but they do help determine whether someone needs follow-up counseling.

"We're taught to take care of everybody else, and become almost these superhuman sponges," Jockimo said, referring to emergency workers. "We have to be able to absorb whatever it is that they're giving us, whatever that situation is — a building fire, a baby delivery, a scalding of a child. And the question I think stands to reason: How much can you absorb before you saturate?"

Child deaths have been painfully present in the news for a second week, with the death of a 7-year-old boy at Playland Amusement Park on Wednesday.

For emergency workers, it's easy to become stuck on a painful image, Jockimo said. If the stress isn't worked through in some way, it can come out in the form of alcoholism, drug abuse or spousal abuse, he said.

Nationally, about 150 officers are killed in the line of duty every year on average, Jockimo said. But anywhere from three to five times that number commit suicide.

During 26 years as a patrol officer, Rubin said he has seen police begin to change their approach.

"Years ago, when I first came on, you didn't let the people know that it bothered you," Rubin said. "These guys had a suit of armor. Nothing bothered these guys, and if it did, you sure didn't know about it."

The Yonkers department's Medical Control Unit follows up on the health of officers after an incident. They are seen by doctors, and the department's Employee Assistance Program then coordinates counseling if necessary, said Lt. Frank Cariello of the 4th Precinct.

Many emergency departments rely on volunteers from the Hudson Valley Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and the services are strictly confidential, said Jockimo, a team member. Another Westchester-based team serves firefighters.

The debriefings give officers an extra outlet, emotionally.

"Sometimes you don't want to go home and tell your spouse about that," Piciulli said from an office inside the Shonnard Place precinct. Piciulli said her police training and a sense of humor also help manage the inevitable stresses of the job.

At a crime scene, officers have to set aside their emotions in order to act fast and communicate. When Officer James McGartland arrived and saw officers and firefighters working to revive the children, he wanted to join them in the effort, he said. But he knew his role should be to stay with the parents, keep the hallway clear and make sure the ambulance crew could get in.

"I was trying to stay focused on what I was doing," he said. "I didn't want to let things get to me. And believe me, if you stop and you look, and really let things bother you, you can. But you have a job at hand, and it has to be done."

It wasn't until the next day that things sank in. "My heart started to break a little bit with it," McGartland said.

Police said television dramas don't reflect the true impact of a tragic scene. "The difference is, you see it, you smell it, you taste it. It's sanitized on TV," Rubin said.

Elijaha would have turned 3 this Friday. He and his brother were buried in the same casket on Thursday. Their mother, Luz Arroyo, is charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide; David Maldonado Sr. is charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.

"You have emotions like the next guy," Rubin said. "You're just able to deal with what you're seeing in a more professional manner."

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