Volunteers and professional rescue workers: Traumatization and adaptation after an avalanche disaster

Haraldsdóttir, Helga Arnfridur; Gudmundsdóttir, Drifa Björk; Romano, Eugenia; Þórðardóttir, Edda Björk; Guðmundsdóttir, Berglind; Elklit, Ask

doi:10.5055/jem.2014.0209

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…The estimated prevalence of PTSD in professional disaster workers varies between 5% and 40% (Galea, Nandi, & Vlahov, 2005) with higher prevalence in Asia (Berger et al, 2012) and in volunteer disaster workers (Haraldsdóttir et al, 2014;Thormar et al, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

PTSD Symptom Trajectories in Disaster Volunteers: The Role of Self‐Efficacy, Social Acknowledgement, and Tasks Carried Out

Thormar

Sijbrandij

Gersons

et al. 2016

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Millions of volunteers respond after disasters, with a 24% to 46% risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear which symptom trajectories develop and how they differ between core (volunteering before the disaster) and noncore volunteers (joining after the disaster) and which factors predict trajectories. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed at 6-, 12-, and 18-months postearthquake in 449 volunteers in Indonesia. Demographics, previous mental health service use, self-efficacy, social acknowledgment, and type of tasks were assessed at 6 months. In both core and noncore volunteers, 2 PTSD symptom trajectories emerged: a resilient trajectory (moderate levels of symptoms with a slow decrease over time; 90.9%) and a chronic trajectory (higher levels of symptoms with an increase over time; 9.1%). In both trajectories, core volunteers had fewer symptoms than noncore volunteers. Core volunteers in the chronic trajectory were characterized by having sought prior mental help, reported lower levels of self-efficacy and social acknowledgment, and were more likely to have provided psychosocial support to beneficiaries (Cramér's V = .17 to .27, partial η(2) = .02 to .06). Aid organizations should identify and follow up chronic PTSD trajectories in volunteers, including the noncore, who may be out of sight to the organization after the acute response phase.

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confidence: 99%

PTSD Symptom Trajectories in Disaster Volunteers: The Role of Self‐Efficacy, Social Acknowledgement, and Tasks Carried Out

Thormar

Sijbrandij

Gersons

et al. 2016

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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“…In the current review, only two studies focusing on the differences between professional and volunteer firefighters were found, presenting opposite results regarding the level of distress, although volunteers were shown to have a higher risk of developing stress-related diseases than professionals in both studies [17,23] Both studies were based on the same factors, finding that organizational support, the sense of control (through the clear instructions of the situation and tasks to be performed), and training for dealing with extreme situations are protective factors against the development of stress-related diseases. The lack of appropriate training and the uncertainties regarding the tasks and the situations that they were faced with aroused the perception of threat that, together with the lack of social and organizational support, led to stress reactions.…”

Section: Professionals and Volunteersmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The perception of stress, in addition to the limitation of resources facing a potentially traumatic event, may lead to dissociation experiences, which influence the consolidation of the traumatic memory and, subsequently, the development of stress-related symptoms. The findings also indicate that training and increased experience from different kinds of crisis and catastrophe scenario may protect from the development of PTSD [23,35].…”

Section: The Perception Of Stressmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…In addition to presenting evidence for the prevalence of PTSD, the symptoms recurrently mentioned by studies were depression (N = 16), alcohol abuse (N = 11), suicidal ideation or behaviors (N = 10) and avoidance (N = 6). All these stress-related symptoms were directly or indirectly influenced by personality traits, working conditions and maladaptive coping strategies [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Strictly speaking, the perpetuation of trauma exceeds exposure to potentially traumatic events, as it is also influenced by personal and occupational characteristics, organizational structure, interpersonal relationships and mental and physical health conditions [12,14,27,28].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of social support inside departments/organizations was highlighted, offering evidence that both training and the perception of organizational support reduce the risks of developing stress-related diseases. This perspective was emphasized when considering the differences between professional and volunteer firefighters [23,35,45].…”

Section: Social and Organizational Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Relational Model for Stress: A Systematic Review of the Risk and Protective Factors for Stress-Related Diseases in Firefighters

Becker

Paixão

Quartilho

2020

Psych

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Firefighters are considered a high-risk group for the development of PTSD and other stress-related diseases. More than the exposure to potentially traumatic events, personal and occupational characteristics have been pointed out as interfering in the perception of stress, which may lead to the emergence of mental and physical symptoms. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the main factors that contribute to stress-related diseases in firefighters. A systematic review was conducted in order to identify original articles focusing on risk and protective factors for stress in this population. Personality traits, training, experience in extreme situations and social and organizational support influence the perception of stress and, consequently, the choice of coping strategies, which may protect against or potentiate the stress reactions. The findings of this study allow us to draw a relational model that represents the dynamics among the factors related to stress in firefighters. The development of PTSD and other stress-related diseases depends on a host of pre-trauma and post-trauma factors and, although training is an important protective factor, being prepared to face extreme situations does not mean being immune to traumatic stress.

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Health Risks in Disaster Responders: A Conceptual Framework

Khatri

FitzGerald

Chhetri

2019

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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Introduction:Disasters cause severe disruption to socio-economic, infrastructural, and environmental aspects of community and nation. While the impact of disasters is strongly felt by those directly affected, they also have significant impacts on the mental and physical health of relief/recovery workers and volunteers. Variations in the nature and scale of disasters necessitate different approaches to risk management and hazard reduction during the response and recovery phases.Method:Published articles (2010-2017) on the quantitative and quantitative relationship between disasters and the physical and mental health of relief/recovery workers and volunteers were systematically collected and reviewed. A total of 162 relevant studies were identified. Physical injuries and mental health impacts were categorized into immediate, short-term, and chronic conditions. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to explore the health risks and injuries encountered by disaster relief workers and volunteers, and to identify the factors contributing to these and relating mitigation strategies.Results:There were relatively few studies into this issue. However, the majority of the scrutinized articles highlighted the dependence of nature and scope of injuries with the disaster type and the types of responders, while the living and working environment and socio-economic standing also had significant influence on health outcomes.Conclusion:A conceptual framework derived from the literature review clearly illustrated several critical elements that directly or indirectly cause damage to physical and mental health of disaster responders. Pre-disaster and post-disaster risk mitigation approaches may be employed to reduce the vulnerability of both volunteers and workers while understanding the identified stressors and their relationships.Khatri KC J, Fitzgerald G, Poudyal Chhetri MB. Health risks in disaster responders: a conceptual framework. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):209–216

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Volunteers and professional rescue workers: Traumatization and adaptation after an avalanche disaster

Abstract: The findings suggest that voluntary rescue workers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms more often than professionals following demanding rescue missions.

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

PTSD Symptom Trajectories in Disaster Volunteers: The Role of Self‐Efficacy, Social Acknowledgement, and Tasks Carried Out

PTSD Symptom Trajectories in Disaster Volunteers: The Role of Self‐Efficacy, Social Acknowledgement, and Tasks Carried Out

A Relational Model for Stress: A Systematic Review of the Risk and Protective Factors for Stress-Related Diseases in Firefighters

Health Risks in Disaster Responders: A Conceptual Framework

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