Crisis Response Team (CRT)
volunteers respond to on-scene crisis

The City of Los Angeles is seeking community members to respond on-scene in a variety of crisis situations. These trained volunteers will assist personnel from the LAPD, the LA Fire Department and other agencies across the region.

CRT volunteers provide immediate on-scene crisis intervention, emotional support and referrals to victims and their families involved in a traumatic incident.

Please see the description of the program below, which is being distributed among other places through the LAPD Community Relations Offices. Each of the 18 Division CRO Offices has been sent applications.

But you can also contact Jeffrey Zimerman, the Manager of the Crisis Response Team Volunteer Corps directly. Jeff works out of the Office of the Mayor and can help you sign up for the training (his contact info is below).

Classes are scheduled to start Wednesday, March 19th, and consist of six sessions including graduation. Bilingual volunteers are needed.

Your interest and involvement in this program will greatly benefit Los Angeles.

OFFICE OF MAYOR JAMES K. HAHN
MAYOR' S VOLUNTEER CORPS
CITY OF LOS ANGELES

CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM

The Crisis Response Team is a volunteer program offered through the Office of Mayor James K. Hahn. As a volunteer member of the Crisis Response Team you will provide immediate on-scene crisis intervention, emotional support and referrals to victims and their families involved in a traumatic incident. Crisis Response Team volunteers respond to calls concerning:

	Abused/Neglected Children		Homicides
	Death Notification		Major Car Accidents
	Drive-by Shootings		Natural Deaths
	Fires		Suicides

The Crisis Response Team (CRT) is activated following a traumatic event, crime or disaster when people may feel helpless, confused and frequently are in emotional shock. Details are probably the farthest thing from their minds as they try to cope with the tragedy that has befallen them. They are often confronted with a situation for which they may be totally unprepared.

By deploying trained and organized CRT volunteers to the sites of crime or disasters, the CRT program has allowed uniformed police, fire and emergency room personnel to resume their primary duties, while ensuring that victims and their family members will be provided with support and counsel for as many hours as they need. These trained volunteers are on call 24 hours, 7 days a week. Volunteers respond within twenty minutes after a police or fire request for assistance, and have multi-lingual capability to serve residents in their native languages.

Examples of CRT call-outs include:

	Parents discovered their 3-month-old baby dead in the morning
	An infant inside her car is hijacked in front of the parents in parking lot
	A child is killed in a school cross walk in front of both her parents and students
	Two young children discovered their parent's bodies in a double suicide
	Father was killed in a drive-by shooting in front of his young children
	15 year old girl was kidnapped, abused and raped

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SPRING 2003 -TRAINING SCHEDULE
(Location: Baldwin Hills Library)
Santa Monica Freeway & La Brea Avenue

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BECOME A CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM VOLUNTEER !

Interested community members should contact: