What happens if the counselors are not available?

Yesterday, a couple of kids from a local high school got killed in a car wreck. Naturally, that is a heartbreaking tragedy.
The accident was reported on the local radio station news segment. At the end of the report, they added, as is common these days, that “counselors will be available all day today and tomorrow at the high school”.
This got me to thinking about something. During my four years in high school, one kid died of leukemia, one was killed in a gun accident, two died in car accidents, and one committed suicide.
At no time, for any of these disturbing tragedies, were counselors made present at my high school.
This raises a question.
What exactly did I and my classmates miss by not having a counselor present?
What do counselors actually do in these cases?
I feel pretty good about life in general. Would I feel better if a counselor had been present?