CPR for the brain

/ lucyfishersite

With terrorism on the rise, are we doing enough to help those mentally affected by involvement in a trauma? Lucy Fisher speaks with a charity founder about the help they have brought this year.

“We’re the only organisation in the country that does this” says Dov Benyaacov-Kurtzman, with pride. And proud he should be. With the vast increase in terrorist attacks occurring in the UK and Europe, it’s people and organisations like this that are bringing our country together. Although he wasn’t ready for attacks like everyone, and Dov says that he ended up “running before he could walk”, he and his team managed to help in three major incidents of 2017. The Manchester Arena bombing, the London Bridge attack and also the Grenfell Tower fire.

Living in Israel since the age of 20, Dov’s childhood Glaswegian accent is still coming through as he tells about his experiences igniting his passion for the newly founded charity.

“In Israel, because of my experience living there with thousands of terrorist attacks and wars, there have been protocols and evidence based treatments that were researched and used there and I came in contact with a professor who offered these things.”

The service the charity offers is strictly not counselling or psychotherapy; they offer, the self-coined, CPR for the brain. The Israelis developed a technique which can trigger a civilian or a professional involved in a self-perceived life or death situation out of shock. Incredibly, it only takes 90 seconds to two minutes.

Noticing a large gap in mental health services in the UK and a rise in terrorism, Dov decided to bring his knowledge and expertise as a clinical social worker to the UK in order to set up the charity ‘Heads Up’. Lying dormant from December 2016 until 22nd May, Dov had a clear idea of where he wanted the charity to go but hadn’t yet had the chance to shine.

Shock and sheer panic gripped Manchester on 22nd May 2017 when news broke of a terrorist attack within the arena.

Dov received numerous phone calls from people asking ‘well what are you going to do?’, ‘what is your plan?’. He felt a sense of urgency: he wasn’t ready, he wasn’t prepared. His level headed persona alleviated the panic and he knew what he had to do. He must have a place where he can invite people to be treated and he needs people to train to help treat the walk-ins in Manchester. Recognising the usefulness of Dov’s help in such a crisis, many donations were offered to the charity. EasyJet offered tickets to bring two more Israeli professors over to Manchester in order for the three of them to be able to train nearly 100 local health workers. Local donations such as a businessman’s empty shop on Tib Street, Manchester proved perfect for a temporary clinic, vibrant orange t-shirts made eye catching uniforms and furniture filled the clinic making it serviceable.

Talking in regards to the aftermath of an attack, Dov explains; “There are two zones. The first zone if you like, when the attack actually happens. In Manchester we missed that because that happened and then we had to get the clinic. Then zone 2 is the clinic, when the people are evacuated from somewhere and that can happen over the next few days, we worked in the first 3 weeks.”

Astonishingly quickly, the charity managed to set up the clinic and put their techniques into practice. Treating anyone in Manchester who was mentally affected by the bombings in the pop up clinic and also out in the public, the charity and its volunteers managed to deal with over 100 people in 3 weeks. A buzz could be felt amongst the charity as they were successfully helping those affected by the attack.

June 3rd, 2017. News broke of a terrorist attack on London Bridge.

Momentum was gained during their work with the Manchester bombing victims and this momentum would not be halted now. Donations flew in allowing the volunteers to travel down to London and stay there amidst the victims and those affected by the attack.

“This time we got there fresh so we were already in zone 1 so we did zone 1 and 2”, says Dov as he talks of their organisation skills with immense satisfaction.

June 14th, 2017. News broke of a fire raging through Grenfell Tower block, London.

Already in the depths of London helping those affected by the terrorist attack, news of a roaring fire engulfing a block of flats in West London struck a chord with Dov and he sent numerous volunteers across London to help. A centre had already been set up to house the homeless from the fire so his volunteers went there and treated those affected by the shock.

Three major incidents. Three hectic, consecutive weeks. Dov directed the operations; for two of them he was there physically and the last one over the phone.

Everything was done on Whatsapp.

The charity prides itself on their communication and remarkably all the contacting was done through the messaging app, Whatsapp. Sending through and exchanging videos, voice clips and messages, they had different channels for the different operations. The speed of the work the charity partook in didn’t hinder them and they were exceptionally organised operationally and logistically thanks to their Whatsapp communication.

Since their busy three weeks, things have had died down for the charity. They took several volunteers to the Manchester One Love concert where they helped out in the concert waiting queues before people went inside. Nerves and tension could be felt in the air of the concert queue following the events of the Manchester arena so they spoke to the parents and to the kids, helping to calm them down.

There are big plans for this charity that will benefit us as a country immeasurably. Aspirations to open up a team in every city of UK and have the facilities to open up a pop up clinic in event of an attack or disaster. The technique to bring someone out of shock after a life or death situation and prevent their worries manifesting into something chronic such as PTSD, is something Dov wants to teach as widespread as possible. This is a life-changing technique that can save money, save health and save lives.

Dov speaks with immense pride of the charity Heads Up (based in Manchester) that he founded: “I’m a volunteer myself, I don’t get paid and we do have dedicated volunteers who are really helping us.

“We have the man power, we have the knowledge, we have the experience now.

We are as an organisation the most experienced organisation in the UK for trauma emergency situations

“We are ready to go at any time!”

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