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Be prepared for
By Pat Gee
next ‘mass casualty,’
expert says
Star-BulletinPeople should learn from the Xerox shooting case and create a task force to deal with the next incident of mass violence, says a national expert on mass casualty violence.
"As an outsider, I come from a different world. There's an aura of paradise here. I can see on all your faces that you don't expect this ever to happen again and I hope it never does. You still have an innocence here," said Diane Batres of the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
But before people can forget, "you need to seize the moment; this is a very important time" to implement a full-fledged task force for crisis intervention to be better prepared for the next tragedy, Batres said.
Batres was one of several crime experts who spoke at the first Crime Victim Compensation Commission conference this week at the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel. She is the project coordinator of the Victim/Witness Assistance Program and created California's first crisis unit.
Xerox technician Byran K. Uyesugi is awaiting trial for shooting down seven co-workers last November.
Janet Goff, a Victim Witness Kokua advocate under the city prosecutor's office, said because Hawaii "has no protocol" in dealing with mass casualties, "no victim advocates were made available" as soon as the shootings occurred. She said it took weeks to get permission to help the families of those who were slain and then get them to understand what long-term services were available.
"The victims don't remember what they are told (about services) because at the moment they are grieving for their family. Advocates are their eyes and ears until they are able to handle it," said Goff, a victims advocate for 30 years.
Leslie Kissner, director of the Hawaii Employee Assistance Services, hired by the Xerox company to provide counseling to its employees, said she thought all the agencies, did a "phenomenal job" in providing assistance to the families and community.
But "since none of us had ever responded to this kind of situation, coordination could've been better and that's why we need a task force."
There were so many different agencies that potentially can get involved "at times we were duplicating services," she said.
Kissner said: "I used to believe that it will never happen here. But because of my work, I'm aware it does happen, even in this great place and it will happen again. We need to be prepared."
Pamela Ferguson-Brey, executive director of the state Crime Victim Compensation Commission, said the governor just signed into law a bill that assures services for mental-health counseling for surviving family members, witnesses and people at the scene of the crime.
Before the bill was passed, compensation could only be given for funeral expenses, child support and medical expenses of the victim, she said.
Xerox killings
