Listening, Healing, Comforting
by Donata Glassmeyer

S. Mary Lou Knapke lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the coordinator of the after-crisis care team ministering through the Forest Park Fire Department, the Mariemont Fire Department and the Hamilton County Communications Center.

S. Mary Lou Knapke, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, celebrates her golden jubilee this summer – 50 years of service, many of those years devoted to listening to, healing and comforting those who hurt. According to Sister’s jubiliarian press release, “In 1993 S. Mary Lou completed a program at the Self Health School of Medical Massage in Lebanon, Ohio. She became a certified massage therapist and received a grant from the Sisters of Charity Healthcare Systems to provide therapeutic massage for Good Samaritan Hospital ( Cincinnati, Ohio), Bayley Place ( Cincinnati) and Mother Margaret Hall ( Mount St. Joseph, Ohio) nursing facility staff members. Her goal was to improve patient care by reducing the stress of health care providers.”

S. Mary Lou ministered at Ground Zero in November 2001 as a member of the Ohio Massage Disaster Response Team offering massages to rescue workers and caregivers. She returned in March 2002 to lead the Crisis Response Initiative Team, sponsored by the Sisters of Charity Congregation.

“Human touch is so powerful to nurture and brings a person home inside themselves,” Sister told the Cincinnati Enquirer in October 2001.

Today Sister is the coordinator of the after-crisis care team ministering through the Forest Park (Cincinnati) Fire Department, the Mariemont (Cincinnati) Fire Department, the Norwood (Cincinnati) Fire Department, the Green Township (Cincinnati) Fire Department and the Hamilton County (Ohio) Communications Center.

In her own words, S. Mary Lou recalls, “After my experience in New York City during the 2001 crisis, I returned to Cincinnati and realized I wanted to work with firefighters. Forest Park Chief Trish Brooks and her assistant chiefs permitted me to come into the department to provide massage.

“Heart attack is the number one killer of firefighters,” S. Mary Lou said. “Stress, high blood pressure and stroke are related to the high stress environment that firefighters constantly face. I wanted to see if massage care would lower blood pressure. My research includes taking blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation before and after one half-hour of massage care. The research indicates that blood pressure and pulse can be lowered through this method.”

She continues, “[Firefighters] are ready and willing to put their lives on the line for us. I need to arrive at the fire department rested and grounded, quiet within myself, so that I may be able to listen and respond to others. When the tones drop at the firehouse [and an emergency is underway], things change in an instant. It could be something as simple as a fire alarm pulled accidentally or as serious as a car accident with entrapment on the highway, or a suicide run. I am present in the department during each of these kinds of [needs].”

“My greatest satisfaction,” S. Mary Lou says, “is the fact that I provide Sisters of Charity presence within local fire departments and the Hamilton County Communications Center where 911 officers receive calls. It is a privilege to enter into the kinds of conversations I have within these departments. My ministry is one of accompaniment, of listening, of presence, of providing massage, of caring and receiving as well as holding in confidence what I am told. It is a great privilege. I am Chaplain within two of the departments. There are weddings, births, illnesses and deaths in families. I am sought out to talk about so many experiences these wonderful human beings share with me,” concludes S. Mary Lou.

 

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