AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services

AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services ("ACCESS") is an American nonprofit support group based in New York City that helps surviving family members of aircraft crash victims. [cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/specials/nyt-800surv,0,5238255.story?page=2|publisher=Newsday|title=Flight 800: ten years later; Families go on yet hold on|author=Lauren Terrazzano|date=2008]

The organization was created by the Heidi Snow, then fiancee of French hockey player Michel Breistroff, who died in the TWA Flight 800 disaster.cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600396.html|publisher=Associated Press|title=Grief Group for TWA 800 Families Growing|author=Larry Neumeister|date=July 16, 2006|accessdate=2008-04-08] The American Red Cross provided services for two weeks, after which survivors were left to arrange support on their own. Snow contacted Rudolph Giuliani, then Mayor of New York City, who in turn suggested that she contact families of victims of an earlier crash, Pan Am Flight 103. After organizing the nonprofit, she arranged meetings between these families and those of victims of other major aviation disasters, including 9/11. [cite news|url=http://journalism.nyu.edu/portfolio/moore/Profile-HeidiSnow.html|date=September 4, 2003|title=Heidi Snow: Out of Grief, a Life's Work|author=Lela Moore|publisher=New York University Portfolio] The nonprofit also conducts sensitivity and support training for airlines and other companies that regularly deal with bereaving families and survivors.

External links

* [http://www.accesshelp.org/ accesshelp.org] - official website

References