Victims of disaster can remain traumatized long after the incident is over  

A World Civil Defense Day seminar for first responders at the Church of Scientology of Milano shared unique and simple technology for helping relieve the emotional and spiritual trauma that can affect disaster victims long after the incident is over. Studies show that not knowing how to help victims deal with these needs can take a toll on emergency response personnel: Their concerns over their ability to help can be a factor in burnout. 

 

The seminar, held in the Chapel of the Church of Scientology of Milano, was organized by Pro.Covi.Co.S, the Civil Protection Volunteers of the Scientology Community. Volunteers from five civil defense organizations attended: the Croce Viola Milano Ambulance Service, the Croce Verde Sempione, Associazione Nazionale Carabinieri ANC, 168 Nucleo VPC and Gruppo Comunale Volontari di Protezione Civile di Milano. These are men and women the community depends on whenever disasters strike, and the Pro.Civi.Co.S volunteers wanted to provide them with resources to help them in their work.

A Scientology minister trained those attending the seminar on how to administer simple Scientology assists—techniques developed by humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the emotional and spiritual factors in stress and trauma. 

The civil protection volunteers teamed up and practiced the assists on each other.

“I immediately had great physical relief. It relaxed me a lot,” said one. “It was very easy,” said another. Yet another appreciated how good it felt “to see you are helping.” 

Each participant was presented with the Volunteer Ministers booklet Assists for Illness and Injury and was invited to log onto the Scientology website to enroll on this and 18 other Scientology Tools for Life courses, available free of charge in 17 languages.

With the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige called on Scientologists to redouble their efforts to aid their fellow man. He issued a directive entitled “The Wake-Up Call,” which inspired astonishing growth within the Volunteer Minister program. In response, Volunteer Ministers of Italy formed Pro.Civi.Co.S, which was entered into the registry of the National Department of Civil Defense the following year. The 

Over the past two decades, Pro.Civi.Co.S and the Volunteer Ministers of Italy have responded to disasters at home and abroad, including the L’Aquila and Amatrice earthquakes in Italy, the South Asian tsunami of 2004, the Haiti earthquake of 2010, the 2019 Albania earthquake, and the 2020 Croatia earthquake.

Throughout the pandemic, they established and ran help lines, provided assistance to healthcare workers, saw to the needs of their communities, and sanitized churches, mosques, and other houses of worship, making it possible for them to safely serve their congregations. Their work is featured in the new feature-length film Operation: Do Something About It on the Scientology Network.