Recognizing this, FEMA provided funding for consultation and for training of professionals. Consultation by a number of individuals and organizations has been useful in anticipating and identifying concerns related to community needs and in organizing the immediate, short term, and longer term efforts. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, minimal attention was paid to individual training and experience, but within weeks, a mechanism for the screening of professionals was established. Screening should identify symptomatic individuals who have not come to professional attention. Screening should also provide information useful for planning service delivery, developing funding requests, and research.
Disaster research is fraught with concern.
Victims may be exploited, even traumatized or retraumatized, in the research process and results may not accurately reflect events that occurred, particularly if people are subjected to repeated and leading questioning. Most, if not all, mental health research related to the bombing has been motivated by clinical or service delivery needs, with care taken in the design and timing of our studies. The collection of data following the bombing was particularly important because there had not been a disaster of this magnitude in our country in recent memory. It burdens individuals and institutions, forces people and agencies into new roles and relationships, alters priorities, and exerts an emotional impact on rescuers and responders as well as victims and survivors. That support came from within the community, state, and nation.