Keeping an eye on the door

Experiencing a violent robbery at work can be a serious trauma. So what do banks and post offices do for their staff after an attack?

Some people who've experienced a bank raid focus on an item of clothing worn by a raider and find themselves walking down the street trying to identify the item on a passer-by. For others, the raid is a constant video replaying in their minds in the still of night while the rest of the world sleeps. And there are some people for whom the traumatic event acts as a catalyst to make life-altering changes.

Armed raids on banks and other financial institutions may no longer make the headlines, but between 1996 and 2000, there was an average of one raid a week.

In 2000, there were 51 armed robberies of banks, post offices, building societies and credit unions. This compares with 33 the previous year and 57 in 1998. The reduction in raids is partly attributed to the ceasefires in Northern Ireland, but also to the greatly enhanced security of financial institutions in recent years. However, institutions such as National Irish Bank (NIB) have expressed concern at the increasing number of bank raids in the past year.

Last month, in two branches, NIB introduced a new security feature, "SmartWater", to deter bank robbers. The water-based solution impregnated with DNA-type coding is sprayed on the burglars as they leave the premises. The solution is very difficult to remove and will show up in ultraviolet light, linking the suspect to the scene of crime.

Larry Moylan, manager of NIB's College Green branch, says the bank was concerned at the level of attacks on its network in the Republic and Northern Ireland. The College Green branch was raided three times recently, so was an ideal place to pilot the new technology. "Three raids in a short space of time is exceptional and very stressful for staff," Moylan says. "It's bad for staff, it's bad for customers and it's bad for business."

All major financial institutions offer counselling to their staff after a raid, whether from in-house staff or outside counsellors. They also pay an allowance to staff present at the time of a raid. This ranges from €236 at Ulster Bank to €354 at Bank of Ireland. An Post provides a payment of about €130 to staff present at a raid and to postal workers attacked during deliveries.

"There is no compensation for being involved in something like this, but it's a gesture to show the bank acknowledges the stress caused to staff," says Moylan.

He was not present for the three College Green raids, but says staff will never forget them. "One thing they all remember is the noise." Most banks are quiet places so when someone bursts through the door, the loud noise affects everyone. "For a few weeks after a raid, staff are very nervous. If a door bangs, everyone jumps."

AIB gives staff a "care line" card after a raid. This has a free phone number, which staff can call 24 hours a day for confidential counselling. "I used it myself," says a manager who now works with staff after raids. "I didn't need it straight away, but after a while I picked up the phone and found it very beneficial."

She says the reality of the experience often hits home when people leave work and are sitting in silence at home. "They can feel worry, anger, helplessness. And families may not fully understand what they are going through."

The most important part of any counselling programme is to let staff know that their emotions are normal, she says. Since her raid, she dreams about bank raids if she has been watching a raid in a film. "It brings my own event to the fore. It's not upsetting, it's just something that happens."

Some people obsess about the "what if?" scenarios. "What if he had had a gun? What if he had shot or injured someone? There's a lot of wondering."

The only certainty about a bank raid is that it will affect every member of staff differently, says Aileen Henderick, a counselling psychologist who has worked with building societies and credit unions for 12 years.

"It depends on your previous exposure to trauma," she says. A raid could be a catalyst for reliving earlier traumas that were never fully dealt with. Problems associated with bereavements, serious illness or marriage breakdown could return to the surface in the aftermath of a bank raid. Or someone may have coped very well with earlier traumas, but find that a raid affects them more deeply than any other event, she says.

"A trauma such as a bank raid shatters all our assumptions," Henderick says. "We assume that bad things don't happen to good people, even though we know that's not really true. But we pay our taxes, we attend church, so when something like a raid happens, that certainty is gone."

In her experience, the involvement of weapons doesn't make much difference to the trauma suffered. "It's the implication of the threat that is the most traumatic and the fact that you don't know how the situation will be resolved."

Most people find that life returns to normal after about six weeks. If a person is still traumatised after two months, Henderick says they should seek counselling. About 10 per cent of people who experience a trauma go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some financial institutions offer debriefing sessions, but medical literature is divided on its merits. Those in favour say it is good for people to re-live the situation as it helps them to put it behind them. Psychologists opposed to debriefing say it is wrong to put people through the traumatic situation again. Henderick assesses the group before deciding on the best approach.

A bank robbery has physical as well as psychological effects. Because of the release of adrenalin, people are in a hyper-vigilant state for some time afterwards. "Their hearing and vision is acute and until they get rid of the adrenalin through physical exertion, the hyper state will remain," Henderick says.

People can also get headaches, feel nauseous, and become more vulnerable to illness. She encourages people to use the event in a positive way. "Use it as an opportunity to do something you have been putting off. Take that trip to Australia. Use the experience so that you can say, 'Yes, it was a difficult time, but out of it I learned how to swim or took that trip I always dreamed of'." Many people, particularly young parents, make wills after witnessing a bank raid. "People realise their mortality for the first time."

AFTER bank cashier Seán witnessed a raid, he found himself walking the street looking at people's footwear.

"During a raid you notice things about the robbers. In this case, I noticed a particular pair of runners. They were unusual and I found myself looking at people's shoes when I was on the street. You wonder if you would ever meet the raiders again. Could you pass them on the street?" he says.

He was unfortunate enough to experience three bank raids in three different branches. "After it happens, if there is a bang or a noise, everyone jumps. Everyone is tense. For a couple of weeks afterwards, I was suspicious of everyone coming through the door."

In every case, Seán never had a doubt about his role. "Hit the floor and keep your distance. No one is applauded for bravery. I would never try to be a hero. I wouldn't even have to think about it."

He felt each raid lasted an eternity and was surprised to see on the video afterwards that it was just a couple minutes.

One raid involved robbers dressed with builders' hats and welding masks. "My initial reaction was that it was a joke. They came in shouting to each other like builders would, but when they jumped on the counter, I knew there was nothing funny about it."

Looking back, Seán doesn't believe he has suffered any adverse reactions from the raids. "But you never know how it affects people. I can think of one girl who was fairly shook up and she has horrific memories of it. "There's a lot of bravado going on after a raid and you might think people are over it, but you don't know what goes on in people's minds."

AN Post cashier Paul was lucky to escape without injury during a post-office raid earlier this year.

He was standing behind the counter talking to a customer when he saw two youths approach him. "They ran in, shouting something and at first I thought they were kids acting the goat. Then I saw one fella taking something from his coat."

The raider had a sledge-hammer, which he used to break the glass screen so he could jump over the counter. "As soon as I saw it, I just got out of there as quick as I could, into the boss's office," he recalls.

Normally, Paul would have been sitting with his head down, scanning pension slips for the following day. "I wouldn't have seen them until it was too late. I was blessed that I was standing up."

He was badly affected by the raid and saw the counsellor shortly afterwards. He took some time off and went abroad for a few days. "I had to get away from everything. I didn't want to see anything that reminded me of it, not an An Post van, nothing."

Shortly after the raid, he had to collect his granny's pension. "As soon as I walked into the post office, I knew I couldn't handle it. I had to get out. Even talking about it now gives me the shakes," he says. "You have your good days and bad days."

The men were wearing baseball caps and since that day, when Paul sees someone wearing one, he gets uneasy. While An Post provides counselling, he would like to see more focus on staff immediately after the raid. "The guards and the bosses were all there afterwards, but there was no one really looking after us. I was thinking 'what do I do now?', and we were just told to go home."

While counter staff have the security of screens at work, their colleagues are not as protected when they go about their daily deliveries. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 75 robberies of postal workers' bags in Dublin alone. The Communication Workers Union is now calling for mandatory minimum prison sentences for attacks on any public servant, whether in or out of the post office.

What about the customers?

The AIB "care line" card with a free phone number to call is also offered to customers present at a raid and they can avail of counselling on the same basis as staff.

An Post encourages customers to seek medical attention in the event of shock. It also has a policy of visiting customers afterwards where possible. As a goodwill gesture, the company offers a payment of about €100 to customers directly involved in a raid.

If customers are caught up in a raid at an NIB branch, they are encouraged to avail of the same medical attention offered to staff in the immediate aftermath of the raid.

A Bank of Ireland spokeswoman said the firm did not offer any counselling or medical advice to customers present during a raid.

Ulster Bank says its treatment of customers varies from situation to situation. "We would always follow up with the customer to see how they were doing afterwards," a spokesman said. "The help we offer depends on the circumstances but customers would always be treated sympathetically."