You can prepare yourself for many emergencies. Some excellent training sources you can use are a basic first   aid   training   course,   a   cardiopulmonary resuscitation  (CPR)  course,  a  litter-bearer  training course for nonmedical personnel, and the  Standard  First Aid Training Course,  NAVEDTRA  12081. It will be reassuring to you that people will often respond positively to your efforts to help. Many people, following an emotional or emergency encounter, will handle their dilemma with dignity and grace and often react with gratefulness. Some may even find humor in the situation and their reactions will even tend to lighten the  intensity  of  the  condition.  Because  you  cannot predict every person’s reaction to a traumatic event, you must be prepared to deal with a variety of possible responses. Being prepared to handle the broad range of possible human responses to a crisis will help you to develop your own perspective about your rating and your job and to become a better RP. ESCORTING  CHAPLAINS  DURING FAMILY VISITS In the chaplain’s business to provide a personal service to a Navy or Marine Corps member’s family, it may be necessary to call upon a client in the home or some  neutral  place.  Often,  the  nature  of  a  pastoral  or counseling  visit  may  place  a  chaplain  in  a  delicate situation,  and  the  chaplain  may  call  upon  you  to accompany him or her during the visit. At these times, your role is to be the chaplain’s confidant or confidante, support person, team member, or witness to ensure the honesty of the moment. For whatever reason, you will be in a position to hear  personal,  confidential  information.  Be  discretely alert, nonjudgmental, and silent but supportive to your chaplain.  The  occasion  may  even  require  that  you simply be there; to play with a child, children, or an animal; to attend to an elderly person; or to care for an afflicted or impaired person. Upon completion of the visit, review in private your observations with the chaplain. After all, the chaplain may not have had the same observations. After this private review, the whole episode must be forgotten. PREPARING DAILY CENSUS REPORTS ON HOSPITAL AND BRIG PERSONNEL ASSIGNED People  entering  hospitals  and  brigs  need  to  know immediately that someone cares about them. If soon after entering the hospital or the brig, a person can see that the chaplain is there, the chaplain’s visit can make a importance difference in that person’s life. One of your  primary  responsibilities  is  to  keep  your  chaplain informed and up to date about these people. To be able to keep your chaplain informed, it will be necessary for you to become a liaison person with the administration  personnel  of  military  and  civilian hospitals and brigs. Staying on top of this responsibility requires  time  and  patience.  Eventually,  you  must develop   your   own   method   for   staying   on   top. Remember, any method you use will require your daily attention. Figure 2-11 shows a form you can use to develop your own method. You can use this form to account for an individual person or incident or multiple persons or incidents, whichever is most helpful to you. Up   until   now,   we   have   talked   about   your responsibilities for pastoral care and counseling. As you probably realize, you must be aware of your role to assist your chaplain as he or she ministers to needs of people who are experiencing some type of adverse or stressful circumstance.  In  the  following  sections,  however,  you will  read  about  some  of  your  duties  in  providing assistance to your chaplain in other types of events and programs, those especially involving fellowship. FELLOWSHIP the routines of Today, we express fellowship as a custom; a custom of shared bonding. Fellowship, therefore, is a ministry of communal hospitality. If fellowship is a ministry, then RPs must be as serious about the ministry of communal hospitality as they are about the ministry of worship. As an RP, one of your most important jobs will be to support your chaplain in his or her efforts to provide fellowship. Your role will involve the following four distinct  areas  of  responsibility: 1.    Diagraming  chaplain  support  requirements 2.    Providing supplies and materials 3.  Rigging and unrigging for fellowship activities 4.    Recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers to  assist  in  fellowship  activities In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at each of these areas. 2-16