LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Faculty members and students with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Greenbrier County continue to provide medical treatment in flooded communities, but one doctor said she sees the health needs of her community changing.
“We’ve had a lot of illnesses since the flood, as far as upper respiratory, as far as the GI (gastrointestinal), diarrhea-type illnesses that you can see, obviously, after floods and not having power and clean water and such,” said Dr. Bridgett Morrison, family medicine program director at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and assistant faculty member with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg.
“I think the biggest challenge moving forward is going to be mental health.”
Morrison said flood survivors, emergency responders, physicians, law enforcement officers and the many, many others involved directly in the flood or flood response could be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or similar mental conditions.
“So many people have lost everything, including loved ones,” Morrison said.
A former paramedic, Morrison first watched the rising water in Alderson on June 23.
When she realized the extent of the flash flooding, she headed to White Sulphur Springs where she and other medical professionals treated patients all night at the community center after parking her vehicle on Interstate 64 and being shuttled in through water.
The next morning, she said she left for Alderson to provide treatment as the water crested there.
Those with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine are among many medical professionals, including those from West Virginia University and Marshall University, working in the flood aftermath.
Since the storms, “It’s actually been kind of a blur. You kind of lose track of days,” Morrison told MetroNews earlier this week.
“From the moment that it started until now, it’s been a very tragic event and it’s just now starting to hit for a lot of the people that have been involved, either directly from the flood or from the people that have been trying to help others.”
Several hotlines are staffed 24/7 for people seeking mental health assistance:
– Help4WV 1-888-HELP-4WV
– Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 (TALK)
– SAMSHA Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746
First responders have told Morrison their stories.
“They heard voices of, ‘Help me! Help me!’ but they couldn’t find them or they couldn’t get to them because the water was too unsafe at that time period. A lot of them have already had trouble sleeping at night obviously,” she said.
“I couldn’t even imagine the helpless feeling that you can’t help but to feel when you can’t help someone, when you can’t save them.”
Coping methods vary among flood survivors, Morrison said.
“Some people just cope by helping others, getting out there and helping clean up, providing medical care whatever way that you can and I think that that’s helpful, but the problem is that before too long there won’t be that (outlet),” she said.
“I think the big thing is to be able to reach out, to talk to others, hopefully you have a support system of friends or family, but I think a large amount of people are going to require true mental health services.”