Katrina: "cold turkey" effects, account of meds aid for evacuees

Following up on a footnote to yesterday's post about violence in evacuee shelters -- and speculation that withdrawal from illicit and prescription meds may be a factor -- Boing Boing reader Laura says

Regarding medications and cold turkey withdrawal -- I've been volunteering with the Red Cross at shelters in San Antonio (there are four, so far; earlier this week there were, on average, 2,000 in each, but I don't know how much that's changed). One of the first questions we ask evacuees when we check them in is, "Are you on any medication, and do you have it with you?" (We also attend to people who haven't had tetanus or hep vaccinations, or who were in the water, or who have any other kind of ailments.)

Local pharmacies are processing Katrina meds with priority, and volunteers bring in huge bags full of bottles every morning and every evening. And to respond to the comment about medication in a very specific way, I know that here, at least, they're providing anti-depressants, etc. because I helped a man who'd lost his glasses, read a label for his anxiety pills.

That said, I'm not surprised in the least that people are snapping. The things that these victims have suffered are almost beyond imagining, and although the shelters I'm working in are very calm, clean, orderly, etc. I can imagine that in other circumstances the shock and pain might just be too much for some people, whose behavior sets it off in others, and so on.

On a side note, one of the things I've encountered the most is that people are having a lot of trouble locating their friends and relatives. Because people are being moved from location to location as they make their way out of Louisiana, it's difficult to know even what state a person is in, much less which shelter. I know that as time goes on the systems for refugee registration and communication between shelters/cities/states will improve, but for the time being, it's heartbreaking to watch as people come in search of their mothers and husbands, often from hours away, and can't find them.

The Red Cross has set up the Family Links Registry at familylinks.icrc.org/katrina or 1-877-568-3317. I hope that it's been useful. The shelters I work with have only just now gotten their phone banks up and running, and I know that NOLA area cell phones are still out of commission.

Previously: Katrina: "Rape, murder, beatings" in Astrodome, say evacuees