Coping with crisis: local team helps

DAYTON, Ohio - "It could very easily happen in any community and I think that's what is frightening to people," explains Jeannette Adkins.

We all saw the heartbreaking images of children crying after Friday's school shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

It's tragedies like this that prompted Adkins to help create a non-profit organization called the Ohio Crisis Response Team.

"We are all trained by the National Organization for Victim Assistance out of Washington DC in their community crisis response model.  What we do is go into a community in the aftermath of any traumatic event and provide support to local caregivers, education for them," explains Adkins.

The team only responds to a crisis if invited. 

Since it was started 16 years ago, the team has responded to numerous tragedies right here in Ohio and across the nation.

Adkins says whether you were directly affected Friday's school shooting massacre or simply watched the horror unfold on TV, everyone seems to have the same question.

"People want to understand why does something like this happen.  You know, why did someone do something like this and shoot innocent children? " asks Adkins.

Adkins says one of the ways people can begin to heal is to talk about ways to try to prevent future tragedies.

"People are wanting to demand that their schools are safe, people are talking about should we have security guards in schools as a routine matter of course, metal detectors, lockdown all the time, so no one can access the school," comments Adkins.

The team has yet to be contacted by anyone involved in Friday's school shooting massacre but members are ready to go if needed. 

If you want to learn more about the non-profit organization, go here.