Chaplaincy Program Medical Examiner Office New York City

<BODY BGCOLOR="#d8d1bd" LINK="#333399" VLINK="#333399" ALINK="#333399" text="#003300"> <HEAD> <TITLE>Chaplaincy Program Medical Examiner Office New York City</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Chaplaincy Program Medical Examiner Office New York City provides support to victim's families of September 11, 2001 and personnel performing DNA identification."> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="World Trade Center, WTC, New York, terrorist attacks, O.C.M.E. , OCME, OCME Chaplaincy, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 9/11, grief counseling, Betsee Parker, Charles T. Flood, Charles T.A. Flood, Charles S. Hirsch, M.D., Charles Flood, body parts, prayer, September 11TH, September 11, 2001, spiritual care, spiritual comfort, St. Stephen's Church, The Rev. Charles Flood, The Rev. Betsee Parker, chapel, chaplain, chaplaincy, chaplains, Diocese of Virginia, Diocese of Pennsylvania, disaster chaplaincy, DMORT, DNA, ecumenical, Episcopal Church, identification, interfaith, Medical Examiner, memorial service, Memorial Park, mourning, orphans, pastoral care, pastoral counseling, Pentagon, Philadelphia, TMORT, victims, volunteer, widows"> </HEAD> <CENTER> <table width="700" border="0" cellspacing="7" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"><img src="/images/Logo1web.jpg" width="600" height="114" align="middle" alt="Chaplaincy - OCME New York - Logo"></td> </tr><tr><td><br><br></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"> The Chaplaincy Program at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is an effort which began soon after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. At that time, a field operation was set up on 30th Street at First Avenue in between the Medical Examiner's building and the old wing of Bellevue Hospital. Field professionals from a number of disciplines arrived including the New York Police Department, Fire Department, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Guard. State Police, Corrections Department of the City of New York, Disaster Morticians, dental and DNA identification experts and others all of whom joined the existing staff of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. All the human remains from the wreckage of the World Trade Center arrived here awaiting identification and return to families and loved ones. The original chaplaincy effort was directed towards the support of these professionals and volunteers. The Interfaith effort was coordinated by The Rev. Betsee Parker who arrived in the early days of September 2001. She was later joined by The Rev. Charles Flood who helped form the program and direct the volunteer interfaith chaplains who arrived.<br><br> In late 2001, an Interfaith Memorial Service was added to the program every Friday afternoon to remember those who had been found in the previous week. The chaplains also received the bodies and remains of uniformed personnel in a ceremony which was conducted upon the arrival of every new set of remains.<br><br> With the closing of the World Trade site in May 2002, Chaplains Parker and Flood have formed a new program to provide spiritual care for the family members and friends of the victims who visit at scheduled times seven days a week. There are currently over 17,000 separate human remains awaiting DNA identification.<br><br> The program operates as a volunteer service of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and uses protocols, training programs and supervision for chaplains developed for this specific situation. Interfaith chaplains from Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist and other traditions are on site to comfort visitors and provide support for the remaining field personnel and staff of the Medical Examiner's Office.<br><br> This program derives its uniqueness from many sectors primary of which is the strict interfaith nature of the spiritual care given. All chaplains are trained to provide spiritual support to all faith traditions.<br><br> The purpose of this web site is to give news concerning the program, provide a means for others to communicate with us and give ongoing encouragement and comfort to the families and friends of victims.<br></font> </p> <p><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3">You have arrived at the homepage of the non-frame version of the website for the Chaplaincy Program at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City.<br> <br> To easily navigate this site you can access the <a href="index.html">frame-version</a> after upgrading your browser. Links to the other pages are given below.</font></p> <table width="700" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr align="center"> <td> <div align="center"><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/home.html" target="content">HOME</a></b></font></div> </td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/do.html" target="content">WHAT WE DO</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/are.html" target="content">WHO WE ARE</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/news.html" target="content">NEWS</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="http://www.calsnet.net/ocme_chaplain" target="content">CALENDAR</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/thoughts.html" target="content">THOUGHTS</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/contact.html" target="content">CONTACT US</a></b></font></td> <td><font face="Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a href="html/links.html" target="content">LINKS</a></b></font></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </CENTER> </BODY>