Members of the trauma team that helped families and survivors cope with the Omagh bombing are travelling to New York to assist those affected by the World Trade Centre disaster.
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Dr Michael Duffy, head of the Omagh Trauma Centre confirmed today that he and his colleagues will visit the US after Christmas to lend their support and experience.
"We have been asked to go out to the States to provide training. A Professor of Psychology at New Jersey University contacted us and we have offered him whatever assistance we can," he said.
The trauma centre was set up after August 15th, 1998 when 29 people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn twins were killed after a Real IRA bomb devastated the town.
Dr Duffy, a psychotherapist, said that more than three years later, they were still dealing with the emotional and psychological impact of the bombing.
He added that the terrorist attack on New York had triggered powerful memories of the Omagh bomb.
"Delayed onset of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be set off by a subsequent dramatic event. We have had people referred for the first time who were holding themselves together but for them the New York incident was the final straw," he said.
Dr Duffy has e-mailed some material to New York based on his experience of the days and weeks after the Co Tyrone attack.
"We have conveyed an important principle that you shouldn't rush in with psychological treatments in the immediate aftermath. For the first four to six weeks, you must provide practical support, a sympathetic ear and mobilise normal support systems within the community.
"Afterwards, the key part of the treatment is talking people through their story, vividly reliving it in sessions which are very painful but necessary to help them through it," he said.
Dr Duffy, who was attending a conference in Belfast on the psychological effects of the Northern Ireland troubles, recalled that when the Omagh tragedy struck, the medical services were extremely stretched.
Services were quickly put in place to deal with the hundreds of people suffering from post traumatic stress.
"Given the scale of what happened in New York there is a danger that the services could be overwhelmed unless they use the time now to train up their staff and set up accessible, walk-in facilities," he said.
PA