Care Teams: Families helping families in times of need

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachelle Coleman
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  With Eielson as the test base, Pacific Air Forces is borrowing best practices--the most efficient and effective way of accomplishing a task--from our brothers in arms, to develop the Care Team initiative. 

When an Airman unexpectedly dies or becomes injured, Care Teams, originally an Army concept for standardizing what family members can do to help families in crises situations, can provide emotional and practical support by doing day-to-day tasks to help the immediate family cope. 

"We're trying to mirror what happens with the chain of command already," said Melinda Graper, wife of Brig. Gen. Mark W. Graper, 354th Fighter Wing commander, "with a chain of concern." 

Col. Howard Hayes, 354th Medical Group Commander, Don Murray, Airman and Family Readiness Community Readiness Consultant, and Mrs. Graper worked with Diana June, Cheri Weber and Mary Cheney, from Fort Wainwright. Together they tailored operating instructions and checklists for the Air Force that the Army already had in place. 

"Fort Wainwright personnel came to Eielson multiple times," said Colonel Hayes. "They talked at the leadership symposium, held to discuss Care Teams, and they also conducted training for us. Their concern is not that they have a program that they want to protect, but that they have a way of taking care of the military family members as much as possible."

Every person's reaction to grief is different and a Care Teams' mission is to offer short term care and support to interested families until their own support structure is in place. Care Teams are available to grieving families in addition to the Airman's squadron and family liaison officer. 

"Part of this is getting people to think about personal preparedness," said Mrs. Graper. "We do that in a lot of ways already, for example the poster outside the commissary here asks 'are you prepared for a disaster?' where they're talking about having extra food and water on hand, or when we get in our cars and have to drive in Alaska's extreme weather conditions." 

Care Team members are trained through the Airman and Family Readiness Center and are a part of Access Eielson--the base's name for its local helping agencies that are dedicated to enhancing the well-being of Air Force members, their families, and the community. 

Teams are trained by reading materials that will be available on the homepage of Eielson's website and up to two hours of classroom training on emotional support and the basic concepts of how to take care of the family. The training will also cover things such as privacy issues. 

"The people who are closest to the family in need, friends or people who want to help them out, come together, go into the house and help them through this crisis situation," said Colonel Hayes, "So while they're getting legal briefings, they're getting emotional support as well." 

If someone wants particular people to be part of their Care Team there are just-in-time training sessions. In these sessions, volunteers would come in and receive just enough information to be able to help and be effective despite the short notice. 

"What we are trying to do is create a culture of readiness," said Mrs. Graper. "Having your affairs in order is helpful at any time in your life." 

The Care Teams' "chain of concern"' are in the family home to answer phones, screen calls and visitors, arrange help for household matters, schedule appointments, run errands and organize meal support. They can find a babysitter or arrange for temporary child care, and they will log questions and pass them to the family's liaison officer or unit commander. They also assist family members with base access and lodging. 

With Eielson leading the way, PACAF's new initiative, the Care Teams, will be one more way for the Air Force to more efficiently and effectively take care of its family. 

Editor's note: Care Team volunteers are not trained as grief counselors. Rather, they provide help and comfort. For more information, contact the Airman and Family Readiness Center at 377-2178 or visit the Eielson website at www.eielson.af.mil and click on Care Teams.