here's one department in the HA that's dedicated to caring for the needs of our colleagues or even their family members, rather than those of the general public. And while you may not require its services just now, you'll find that its team will be very happy to assist you if you do one day in the future.

This department is called Oasis — the Centre for Personal Growth & Crisis Intervention. It comes under Corporate Clinical Psychology Services, and it caters especially for the psychological wellbeing of our colleagues and their families.

According to Senior Clinical Psychologist Dr Rosalie Kwong Lo, who is in charge of Oasis, the psychological stress many people experience in their lives don't usually appear overnight. But, if you unexpectedly encounter a critical incident, it may be distressing. And accidents often happen when we are least prepared for them. She and her colleagues at Oasis are always ready to help if we experience such a "rainy day".

The Oasis team learned from the SARS outbreak that telephone consultation services can play a vital role during times of crisis, and one of the many ways the team helps its colleagues is by recruiting and training volunteer counsellors.

"Although human swine influenza (HSI) has not had such a huge psychological impact as SARS did, we are already working closely with voluntary agencies in order to have volunteers ready to help if a second wave of the disease occurs," she explains.

The people they targeted for this role included graduates and students of counselling, social work or psychology at local universities. The response was overwhelming. More than 100 applications were received, yet only several dozen people are being selected to attend a training course that will equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to provide hotline services. This course is scheduled to begin at the end of August.

Since the HSI pandemic started, the Oasis team has also been conducting a series of talks and workshops to enhance the psychological preparedness and resilience of our colleagues as they deal with the disease. These programmes are still available, and Clusters and hospitals who would like further details, or who wish to arrange for them to be presented to their staff, are invited to call 2300 8617 or 2300 8623 for more information.

Can the 10 or so team members at Oasis look after the needs of all of us? If you were to require some psychological support, would you have to go to the Head Office to get it? Don't worry. With assistance from Oasis, more than 30 of our hospitals have now established their own Critical Incident Support Teams (CISTs) to provide their staff with psychological support. And, if a disaster occurs, Oasis will also collaborate with non-governmental organisations. So, if you or your family members feel you need a helping hand, all you will have to do is to contact Oasis, and they will refer you to such organisations for assistance.

In fact, research has shown that religious support can increase the ability of people to cope with a crisis. Oasis therefore works closely with religious bodies who have agreed to provide psycho-spiritual telephone consultation services. They will activate this service programme if the pandemic worsens. Colleagues (or their family members) who find themselves suffering from emotional distress can obtain timely spiritual or emotional support through the programme.

Finally, Oasis began to assist hospitals to establish Satellite Oases several years ago. They are places where staff can seek psychological health resources, or simply relax and take a rest. More than 30 hospitals now have such Satellite Oases, while others have allocated space for one when their premises are redeveloped.

The Oasis team provides telephone consultation services to colleagues who contract HSI, as well as management and supervisory staff. In addition, together with CISTs in different hospitals, they send psychological support kits, including caring cards, inspirational reading, psycho-educational materials, information about community resources, and small gifts to colleagues who need to be hospitalised due to HSI.