Red Cross staff member and volunteer Jackie Lantz shares her experience working at the Information Center at Chatsworth High School in wake of the Metrolink derailment.

Immediately after learning that there was a major Metrolink derailment, the Red Cross responded. An information center and canteen were opened at Chatsworth High School, where family members waited to hear the fate of their loved ones. On Saturday afternoon, I joined the 15 Red Cross volunteers (and other agency staff) and approximately 75 family members who were still waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones.

Upon entering the grounds of the High School, I immediately felt the tension and stress from those who were anxiously waiting. The mood was somber and eerily quiet. During the course of the night on Friday, there were 200 people waiting to learn the fate of missing family members. As the night wore on, families began being informed of their loved ones who were fortunately just injured and at a nearby hospital. People who hadn’t heard by Saturday obviously feared the worst.

The Red Cross operation at Chatsworth High School was primarily for mental health services. There were nurses and disaster mental health specialists on the scene helping everyone get through this emotional, trying time. Many individuals were too consumed with fear and stress to take their own medications. At multiple points throughout the afternoon, the tension became too much and people suffered panic attacks and rapid heart rates.

This being my first disaster response experience, I was impressed by the strength and professionalism exhibited by the entire Red Cross team. In most cases, we learned the fate of the missing individuals before their family was notified. This was necessary to prepare ourselves and to be there when families were notified that their loved one had died. I had a difficult time keeping my composure, and I was just setting up food and cleaning the dorm area. The nurses and disaster mental health staff were always calm and collected.

By 6pm on Saturday evening, all of the families were notified one way or the other, and had returned home.

As the operation at Chatsworth High School began to wind down, it was apparent that during this extremely difficult time – the Red Cross has made a real difference, if only just to make this day a little bit easier for everyone.

Tags: chatsworth train crash, derailment, mental health, Red Cross, Response

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