Longitudinal Mental Health Effects of the 2016 Terrorist Attack in Berlin on Various Occupational Groups of Emergency Service Personnel

Abstract

Emergency service personnel who respond to terrorist attacks may experience persistent stress following the event. This occupational stress must be examined in order to develop occupation-specific response preparation and follow-up measures. An explorative pilot study examined the occupational stress-related effects of the 2016 terrorist attack on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin on emergency service personnel. The present study examines whether the results of the pilot study can be replicated and whether the effects changed after 2 years. The participants were 60 emergency personnel (including 11 police officers and 24 firefighters) who were deployed to the attack, and a control group of 60 personnel (including 37 police officers and 21 firefighters) who were not deployed. Data on stress, quality of life, and current mental state were gathered 3 to 4 months after the attack and 18 to 21 months after the first survey. The data showed that police officers who responded to the attack had significantly higher levels of aggression and hostility at both time points, and firefighters had significantly lower levels of environmental quality of life at both time points. Quality of life in terms of physical health for firefighters could not be replicated. Due to the different types of stress experienced by emergency service personnel, a differentiated approach is necessary. More specific preparation and follow-up measures are necessary to counteract persistent stress. Further research in this area could lead to specific predeployment and postdeployment training measures.

Gender Differences in Anger Among Hospital Medical Staff Exposed to Patients with COVID-19

“…Exposure to critical events can be seen as a stress factor, the impact of which may depend on the proximity to the stressor, [1][2][3] personal risk perception, 4 gender, 5,6 or occupation. 7 Vulnerability, resilience, and the current mental state are also considered relevant, [8][9][10] but are rarely recorded before disasters. A large study found incident rates for depression (54%), anxiety (45%), insomnia (34%), and distress (72%) among health care workers who treated patients with COVID-19.…”

Investigating the impact of terrorist attacks on the mental health of emergency responders: systematic review

“…Physical quality of life of the firefighters was no longer impaired 2 years after the incident. 55 At 2–3 years after the 9/11 WTC attacks, gender differences in the prevalence rates of PTSD (results from questionnaires) in 4017 police officers were found, with 13.9% in women and 7.4% in men. 32 Four years after the 9/11 WTC attacks, no significant correlation between gender and PTSD ( r = 0.05) was found in 8508 police officers.…”

“…56 Aside from the physical quality of life, these results were replicated 2 years after this terrorist attack and were not found in the non-deployed comparison group. 55 In the first year after the January 2015 Paris terror attacks, the PTSD point prevalence rate was 3.4% in firefighters, 4.4% in health professionals, 4.5% in NGO personnel and 9.5% in police officers. 54 During the second and third years after the 9/11 WTC attacks, this order was reversed.…”

Integrating general practitioners into crisis management would accelerate the transition from victim to effective professional: Qualitative analyses of a terrorist attack and catastrophic flooding

“…Still, in the IMPACTS study of emergency and law enforcement/response health professionals who were deployed to deal with the Paris attacks and hostage-taking, 3% developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and at least 14% developed an anxiety disorder [ 7 ]. For the 2016 Berlin terrorist attack, one study showed a slight increase in levels of aggression and hostility among police officers and significantly lower environmental quality of life among firefighters [ 8 ]. Previous studies had shown that PTSD was associated with the intensity and duration of exposure, lack of preparedness and social isolation [ 5 ].…”

“…On the ground, GPs found that many people had developed PTSD as predicted in the literature [ 4 ]. Many studies have examined the impact of terrorist crises on law enforcement and medical personnel [ 5 , 6 ]; the officials often develop anxiety symptoms or PSTD [ 7 , 8 ]. However, there was only one study on the experiences of nurses and GPs during the series of earthquakes in New Zealand in 2010–2011 [ 9 ].…”