Injury or death overseas
Part 1 Your Disaster has just Happened
Part 2 The Aftermath
Checklist (separate leaflet)
Members of Disaster Action have written this guide. We have all been
involved in disasters in the UK and overseas such as the Marchioness,
Kathmandu, Southall and Ladbroke Grove. Members also include families
bereaved by the 11th September attacks in the United States.
Our aim is to enable you to understand what may happen in the hours,
days and weeks after the disaster, and give you the opportunity to
maintain some control over events. This leaflet is divided into two
parts – see Part One, if you are reading this soon after your disaster
has happened, and Part Two, if you are reading it later.
In addition to the emotional trauma, you may be faced with language,
distance, and administrative and even political difficulties. While each
disaster is unique, we hope that the following suggestions may be
helpful whatever the circumstances.
Top
Following an overseas disaster, it is even harder to gain information
about what has happened, and to make contact with those who are
responding to it. Details of the disaster and involvement of your friend
or family member may not be clear. At this stage, try to make contact
with: other relatives and friends; any company that may be involved
(such an airline, coach firm, holiday company, school or your relative’s
employer); the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and news organisations.
Try to keep a record of telephone calls you make, recording names,
contact numbers and any relevant e-mail addresses.
Top
If relatives and friends are in the country where the disaster took
place, they may be in a better position to find out what is happening.
Try to share information with them, and share responsibilities, if you
can, for making contact with the organisations involved. This can reduce
the immediate stress and demands on your time. It is a good idea for
only one person to contact an organisation.
Top
When you contact an organisation, explain who you are and why you are
getting in touch. Any company directly involved, such as an airline, or
an employer (if the victim was their employee) may issue a telephone
number through the media, which you should contact. You may need to be
persistent as such contacts can become very overloaded. If it is
suspected that the disaster is the result of a crime, the police in the
UK may assign you a family liaison officer who will try to get
information on your behalf.
Top
If you are based in the UK, contact the FCO (see Contact Details
overleaf) and ask to speak to the consular division. Explain who you
are, who the victim is, your relationship to them, what the disaster is
and why you think they are involved. The FCO has certain
responsibilities towards UK citizens injured or killed abroad, and to
their relatives.
The FCO may not have special knowledge of the disaster, and you may
be the first to alert them to a UK involvement. However, the FCO may
become the route by which you will be best informed about developments
in the future.
Normally, the consular section of the British Embassy or High
Commission of the country in which the disaster occurs will liase with
those who are responding to it. Information will be passed from the
consular official on the spot to the consular division of the FCO (in
London), who will ask the local police force to inform the family member
or members who are next of kin.
What you are told by the police should be authoritative. However, you
may get information by a number of different routes. You may be informed
of developments by a consular official in London, or one on the spot
abroad. Sometimes there will be direct contact with those in charge of
the disaster. You may find that you learn some important information
from the media first.
Top
Overseas disasters involving few UK citizens are rarely reported here
as fully as they are in the local media. Discovering what is reported
locally is now much easier, thanks to the Internet. Major news agencies
such as Reuters may have more information than is used in media and
newspaper reports here. On the Internet you may also search for a
newspaper local to the disaster. Try using an Internet search engine to
search for national newspapers in the country concerned. Such a paper
may have an English edition. If not, you may be able to use a web-based
translation tool to translate relevant articles (see Useful Contacts
overleaf).
Such information, however, will only be of general use in
understanding the disaster and will not usually contain details of your
personal connection with it.
Top
The media, looking for photographs or interviews may approach you. It
is up to you whether or not to talk to them, but remember that you
cannot change your mind later about what you have said. You may be
unable to stop them taking photographs, but don't be afraid to tell them
to leave you alone. If the media is bothering you or your family, tell
the police. Bear in mind that what you learn from the media may not give
you the level of information that you would like to have.
Top
After the disaster, what you have experienced may have a great effect
upon you now and in the future. Although you may not have been
physically injured or survived the disaster yourself, coming to terms
with what happened may be extremely difficult. Each person's experience
of and feelings about a disaster are unique; some people may have
problems because of it and others may not.
Top
Getting appropriate legal help can be especially important in
overseas disasters. You are likely to need more specialised advice than
your family solicitor can give you. In addition to a specialist lawyer
in the UK, you may also need a lawyer who is local to the disaster. You
can contact the Law Society or the Association of Personal Injury
Lawyers (see Useful Contacts overleaf), who can give you lists of
lawyers with experience in this area.
Top
Arrangements may be made for you to go either to the disaster site or
some appropriate location to coincide with memorial services or other
such events. It is your choice whether you go or not. The advantages of
going are that you may learn more about the disaster and benefit from
sharing with others their and your loss. The disadvantages are that the
trip may be emotionally demanding, will take you away from your existing
sources of news and information and may be frustrating.
If you are offered a trip by one of the agencies involved in the
disaster, even if you think there may be a future legal claim against
them, your position should not affected by accepting their hospitality.
Top
All those involved in a disaster will need to be identified. This may
be especially complicated when the disaster has happened abroad, in a
country whose customs in the event of a death may be completely
unfamiliar.
If you have a police family liaison officer, they may ask you for:
- A physical description of your relative, or friend, including any
distinctive features, such as scars or tattoos.
- Clear, recent photographs of them.
- Name and address of their doctor and dentist (if they were living
in the UK).
- Details of items they may have been wearing or had with them -
driving licence, wallet, handbag, jewellery, keys.
- DNA sample.
The police may also need to take fingerprint samples from their
house, if they were resident in the UK. Your family officer should keep
you informed about the way in which the identification is being carried
out. This information will probably be required whatever the
circumstances of the disaster.
Even if you have no contact with the police (because the death was
not a crime), if you think there may be difficulty in identifying your
victim’s body, it can be a good idea to collect this information, in
case it is asked for.
Top
You may be faced with difficult decisions dealing with the body and
registering the death. The FCO may be able to help you decide what needs
to be done and what is feasible. The process will be more complicated
and take longer than a similar death in the UK. There is no need to
register the death at the High Commission or Embassy, and it may be
possible to deal with the UK aspects of the death without a UK death
certificate.
Top
One of the best ways people caught up in a disaster can best help
themselves is by contacting others affected by the same disaster.
Sharing your feelings and information with others who have had very
similar experiences can help at a time when you may feel very alone.
There may be an advantage in belonging to a group, when you need to
approach the authorities, government departments, or lawyers.
Disaster Action can put families in touch with each other, if they
make contact with us. We can also put you in touch with other Disaster
Action members with relevant experience.
Groups may be set up to assist those who are local to the disaster,
and they may welcome contact from you. Your FCO contact or police family
liaison officer should know of any such groups, or can find out about
them on your behalf.
Top
You may have a number of different reactions, such as loss of
appetite or sleepless nights. You might find it difficult to
concentrate. You might have anxiety attacks. You may find it hard to
relate to your family or friends who have not shared your experience.
And you may keep re-living the disaster or have vivid flashbacks. It is
important to understand that these reactions are not abnormal in
themselves. If such reactions and feeling persist or disturb you, then
you may find it beneficial to seek help. There's nothing wrong with
knowing that you need help and trying to find it. Whether you feel you
need help or not, take care in driving or doing other things that are
potentially dangerous.
Top
You can go to your doctor (who can refer you to a counsellor) to talk
about how you feel, but if he or she has had no training in disasters,
they may be unsure how best to help you. There are a few clinics, mostly
in London, which specialise in helping those affected by disasters. Ask
your doctor what is available locally, or speak to Disaster Action. Some
of the organisations that try to help the bereaved and those who have
been affected by traumatic events are listed under Support Groups and
Caring Organisations.
Some people will not want or feel the need to talk to anyone outside
family and friends, although for others it may be essential. There is
nothing wrong with knowing that you need help and trying to find it. If
you contact a group but don't find it helpful, don't give up. It may be
that whoever you spoke to was not the right person for you. It is never
too early or too late to get help - the hard thing is to recognise, or
admit, that you need it.
Top
Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 0207 270 1500.
: :
www.fco.gov.uk
Law Society: 0207 242 1222;
: :
www.lawsociety.org.uk
: :
www.solicitors-online.com
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers: 0115 958 0585
: :
www.apil.com
Reuters: 0207 542 7950
: :
www.reuters.com/news.jhtml
BBC
: :
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
For newspapers:
: :
www.world-newspapers.com
Top
Disaster Action
Charity who members have all been bereaved in or have survived a
disaster. Shares common experience and provides support and guidance to
those affected by disasters. PO Box 849, Woking GU21 8WB. Telephone:
01483 799 066.
: :
www.disasteraction.org.uk
The Compassionate Friends
Organisation of bereaved parents offering shared experience and series
of leaflets (Monday-Friday 9.30am - 5.00pm).
53 North Street, Bristol BS3 1EN. Tel: 0117 953 9639.
: :
www.tcf.org.uk
The Traumatic Stress Clinic
Specialists in PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Provides
assessment and therapy for those who have been affected by traumatic
events such as disasters.
73 Charlotte Street London, W1T 4PL Tel: 020 77530 3666.
ASSIST Trauma Support Trust
Offer support and self help in surviving trauma.
The Penthouse, 11013 Bank St. Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 2QE.
Trauma Support Line Answer Service: 01788 560 800. Office: 01788 551
919.
Cruse - Bereavement Care
Offers counselling, advice and opportunities to meet other bereaved
people throughout the UK. 126 Sheen road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1UR.
Tel: 020939 9530. To talk to a counsellor telephone 08457 585565
(Monday-Friday 3pm - 9pm).
Victim Support
Offers practical help and advice and emotional support to victims and
their families following crime. (Monday-Friday 9.00am - 5.30pm).
Cranmer House, 39 Brixton Road, London SW9 6DZ Tel: 020 7735 9166.
: :
www.victimsupport.org.uk
Maudesley Hospital - The Traumatic Stress
Project
Provides a clinical service for people suffering from psychological
distress or disorder. (PTSD) Mon-Fri. 9.00am-5pm.
De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF. Telephone: 020 7703
6333.
BAC (British Association of Counselling)
Will give list of counselling organisations and practitioners in your
area, their specialisation and fees (some do not charge). You need to
send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: 1 Regent Place, Rugby,
Warwickshire. CD21 2PF.
Information answerphone: 01788 550 899.
: :
www.counselling.co.uk
TACT (Trauma After Care Trust)
Those affected by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can get in touch
with TACT for names of specialists in this condition.
Buttfields, The Farthings, Withington, Glous. GL54 4DF. Freephone 0800
169 6814
Samaritans
Will refer callers to local branches (listed in telephone books)
offering a 24-hour service to all those going through a personal crisis.
10 The Grove, Slough, Berks. SL1 1QP. Tel: 01753 532713.
: :
www.samaritans.org.uk
Support after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM)
Has a section specifically concerned with overseas.
Cranmer House, 39 Brixton Road, London SW9 6DZ. Telephone: 020 7735
3838.
|
