Kelly Fitzpatrick
  • Psychology
  • Class of 2018
  • Miller Place, N.Y.

SUNY New Paltz student Kelly Fitzpatrick uses Disaster Studies training in response following apartment fire

2017 Nov 29

Kelly Fitzpatrick of Miller Place, N.Y. was among a number of SUNY New Paltz students who participated in an emergency response to help displaced residents of a Poughkeepsie, N.Y. apartment building that suffered an electrical fire on Oct. 30.

More than 300 residents were displaced following an electrical fire that occurred in the Rip Van Winkle Apartments. Dozens of those individuals and families had no immediate options for places to stay, so the American Red Cross established a temporary shelter at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center for them.

The SUNY New Paltz Institute of Disaster Mental Health responded to the emergency shelter on Nov. 2. They used the skills they had learned in their training courses to occupy upwards of a dozen children staying at the shelter with family and to provide emotional support.

"We prepare for this every semester by placing students in Red Cross sites or county emergency management sites, where they learn about preparation and planning for an event," said IDMH Director Amy Nitza. "They have the knowledge from the disaster psychology courses and their Red Cross trainings, but walking into a live situation really tests their ability to apply that knowledge, to see what the needs are responding on the fly and to understand why all the preparation is so vital."

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