On Friday, October 31, students and adults in Stockton Springs experienced a real-life scare when an armed man entered the elementary school and held a small group of students hostage. Thankfully, the armed standoff ended peacefully, but the emotional trauma experienced by the entire community was signficant.

Acadia employee Paul Caron was at the school when the incident occurred, and communicated the situation to Acadia officials. Because Acadia has worked with the Searsport School District for years through a program called Challenge Day, a phone call was made to let school officials know Acadia was prepared to assist.

Acadia Administrator Rick Redmond attended a meeting that very afternoon in Searsport, and Saturday he and clinician Dan Johnson spent six hours each helping with further planning, supporting a debriefing session done by the Searsport school-based crisis team for the 4th and 5th grade classes (supporting the parents) and then supporting an informational meeting led by the Superintendent and Police Chief with parents of the school children. Dan and Rick then helped the Searsport crisis team plan for Monday.

On Monday, Acadia staff Jen Holwegger and Josh Jones went to the elementary school on their first day back since the incident. They spent the whole day there; attended a teacher’s meeting before school, made themselves available to staff and, when requested, by school personnel and students. Acadia’s Carla Bommarito joined them after school for a group debriefing for the staff. This meeting went 2.5 hours and was very helpful.

Rick spoke with the school system’s crisis team organizer after the first few days and she said that there was still much work to do but they felt on track. They are extremely appreciative of Acadia Hospital’s role in supporting them and will let us know if they need anything else. This is truly an example of already strong relationships leading to a quick and helpful response; a community benefit provided at no cost by Acadia Hospital.