How to handle grief in wake of shootings
After the devastating shootings in Dallas Thursday night, Deschutes County Health Services had some advice on how to handle the range of emotions such violent tragedies can spark.
“Oh, I think it makes me feel the same as everyone else in the community,” Mobile Crisis Team supervisor Holly McCown said Friday. “I mean, it’s devastating to hear when anything like this happens. Regardless of if it’s in your own community or somewhere else, it hits close to home.”
Close to home for those involved and for communities around the nation.
“We have law enforcement in our own community who work really hard every day, and so the idea that this could happen in our own museum is really heartbreaking,” McCown said, referring to the recent assault and fatal shooting at Bend’s High Desert Museum.
The only way Deschutes County Health Services can prepare is to get ahead of it.
“They have a lot of resources within each of their agencies to be able to take care of their own,” McCown said.
Deschutes County Health Services has walk-in appointments, if you would like to talk to a crisis counselor. They also have a 24-hour crisis line at 541-322-7500
Also, if you’d like to support the families of the fallen Dallas police officers, you can give to the local nonprofit “Assist the Officer” at atodallas.org.
