Soothing the Body in Crisis

She asked him if he needed a massage, and he guiltily responded, "Yes."

Venable, a member of the Carolina Emergency Response Massage Team, began her work, wondering how she could ever help such a distressed man with just a short massage.

The two didn't speak, but when she was done, he looked rejuvenated. He hugged Venable, and the obvious gratitude he expressed caused her to cry out of happiness for being able to help someone during his time of need.

During emergency crises like the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, CERMT responds by traveling to sites of destruction and voluntarily massaging emergency workers such as firemen, policemen and construction workers.

"Although the long hours of massage therapy were physically exhausting, (the therapy's positive effect) was worth it," Venable said of her work in New York.

There are 30 volunteer members of this team, all of whom are licensed therapists who live in North Carolina. They became members after taking a six-hour course on massage therapy for emergency response.

James Charlesworth formed the idea for Emergency Response Massage Teams in 1989. The first official team was put together in Florida during the time of Hurricane Andrew, and in 1995, the team traveled to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Soon after, North Carolina became the first -- and remains the only -- state directly connected to its team.

CERMT first saw action in North Carolina in 1998 and 1999 in response to hurricanes Floyd and Dennis. The massage therapists gave 500 massages to different emergency workers at places of destruction.

Doug Rasmusson, state director of CERMT, said massage during emergencies is crucial for stress reduction.

"Reducing the stress of these workers helps them relax and get back in touch with their bodies," Rasmusson said.

After the hurricanes, CERMT again offered its services at the World Trade Center attack sites.

Several national massage organizations denied emergency workers help because the workers were not national members of the organizations.

The workers were then referred to CERMT. Safe Horizon, a relief center for battered women, invited the volunteers of CERMT to New York in hopes that they could offer assistance.

There were five different seven-day trips to New York, and some volunteers, such as Venable, went to all five. CERMT workers gave chair massages to more than 5,000 people in those five weeks.

"Some people who hadn't even opened up to their own families shared their feeling with us," Venable said.

Though CERMT is still trying to pay off debts from expenses incurred in New York City, volunteers said they are grateful for the opportunity they had to help people.

"I love being a part of this," Venable said. "It was a huge blessing for me to go to New York City and truly give a part of myself to those in need."

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.