美国国家公共电台 NPR A Pulse Nightclub Responder Confronts A New Crisis: PTSD

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It has been a year since the Pulse Nightclub shootings in Orlando, Fla., killed 49 people. The scene inside that place was horrific. Some of the survivors¹ are still trying to cope with what happened. And that's true of the first responders as well. Abe Aboraya of member station WMFE looks at the lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder² for those first on the scene.

ABE ABORAYA, BYLINE³: Gerry Realin wishes he had never become a police officer. Realin was part of the hazardous⁴ materials team the night of the shooting. He spent four hours inside the club taking care of the dead. Now triggers like a black marker or a white sheet yank him out of the moment and back to Pulse. The slightest thing enrages⁵ him or makes him sad.

GERRY REALIN: But then there's the moments that you can't control, the images or flashbacks or the nightmares that you don't even know about. And your wife tells you the next day you were screaming or twitching⁶ all night.

ABORAYA: Realin was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and hasn't worked since right after the shooting. And it's not just Realin who's dealing⁷ with it. His family is too.

REALIN: Hiding from your kids so that they're not traumatized by your rage or depression, which gives them a sense of insecurity, which isn't good.

ABORAYA: It's not easy for first responders to talk about these things. Orlando City Commissioner⁸ Patty Sheehan says she continues to be worried about the after effects. At least two first responders have come forward with an official PTSD diagnosis⁹ since the shooting. But Sheehan has heard there are many more officers with issues who won't speak up. They don't want to be seen as weak or unfit for duty.

PATTY SHEEHAN: If someone is to the point where they have had an emotional stress to where they cannot perform their job, of course I don't want to put a gun in their hand (laughter). That's just common sense to me.

ABORAYA: Researchers say there isn't enough data on PTSD rates from first responders, but the best estimates are anywhere from 7 to 19 percent of police officers have it. Officers who responded to the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook mass shootings also have struggled. After Sandy Hook, the city of Newtown, Conn., was ordered to pay one officer nearly $400,000 in long-term disability. This year, the Florida Legislature was unable to pass a bill that would have expanded workers' comp benefits to first responders with PTSD.

RON CLARK: I don't think officers are disposable.

ABORAYA: That's Ron Clark, a retired¹⁰ officer who works with Badge of Life, a police suicide prevention group. He says when he started, people were told to tough it out. Officers used alcohol or drugs to deal with it. And if you spoke¹¹ up, you were likely to get fired.

CLARK: And it really comes down to police officers are human beings. They're affected¹² by what they see out there - families wiped out in car accidents, suicides. Just name all the horrors that you can think of.

ABORAYA: So how do you cope with those horrors once you've seen them? For Orlando officer Gerry Realin, one escape is being all alone on his paddleboard on the water, listening.

REALIN: And hearing the sounds of nothing else, the breeze maybe, wondering where the fish may be, wondering which way the tide is turning, which way the wind is blowing. For some reason, nothing dark follows me there, and I can reset¹³.

ABORAYA: Reset, he says, and find serenity¹⁴. For NPR News, I'm Abe Aboraya in Orlando.

(SOUNDBITE OF KOMEIT'S "OPAL CITY")

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

5 enrages   

使暴怒( enrage的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That is exactly what enrages and frightens the Sunnis. 但这个点子带点垂死挣扎的味道：伊朗早已深植于伊拉克的逊尼派，这恰恰是逊尼派又惊又怕的原因。
• He often stabs people in the back, which enrages me. 他就会背后放冷箭，真让人火大。

6 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

14 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。