We Provide Emotional Comfort and Support to Kids
TIP 4 Kids
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The Need
Children often do not receive the support they need immediately following tragic events. The reasons include: parents are unable to provide support because they are physically or emotionally injured; parents are taken into custody by law enforcement; children don’t express their need for assistance; and emergency responders are preoccupied with the emergency situation.
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When TIP Assists Children
(Examples of Actual Calls)
• Three small children are emotionally traumatized in a hospital emergency room after an auto accident in which their mother is killed.
• Four children are left alone when their parents are taken into custody after a drug raid.
• Two children witness a third child killed by a speeding Amtrak train.
• Fifteen children witness a man intentionally drive into their day care center killing two.
• An 8-year old child discovers his father died of a drug overdose.
• Thirty children witness a child crushed by a park bench at a YMCA park. -
TIP Assistance
(Examples)
• Provide emotional comfort and support.
• Protect from on scene dangers (traffic, gruesome sights . . .)
• Provide “comfort bears,” coloring books and other comforting and reassuring materials.
• Explain emergency procedures in simple terms.
• Reassure traumatized parent(s) that their children are being cared for.
• Educate parent(s) and provide written materials about how to deal with children after a tragic event.
• Arrange for follow-up counseling for children.