Disaster Mental Health Workers

There are several different assessments that can be used for victims of trauma to determine the level of stress and if a victim is suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The best results will occur if the clinical work is directed at the symptoms expressed by the resulting trauma. When assessing the treatment plan, “the psychic injury caused by the event and its impact on the survivor’s normal life patterns and his or her worldview must be accounted for” (Everstine & Everstine, 2006, p.161). A person

With that in mind, the Army conducted the very first study on the mental health of Iraq troops which discovered that “one in eight [soldiers] reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder” (“1”). In addition to this, the study evinced that “less than half of those with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers” (“1”).

However, the argument that exposure to traumatic event can always result in mental health problems has become controversial because it can stigmatize those who do not believe they have been affected in an adverse manner. Fortunately, only a small percentage of people experience severe enough lose or trauma reactions to meet the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), and most people appear to fully recover from any adverse effect within a relatively short period of time, and to successfully overcome potentially traumatic events with little or no disruption in their normal ability to function (Shalev, 2002). Therefore, it is important to note that “the emergence of interest in the concept of resilience comes at the peak of success of the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), serving as a reminder that

Disaster is anything that can occur causing damages, an ecological disruption and deterioration of health and the health services. Disaster can be manmade or natural disasters such as floods. When disasters like flooding or tornadoes that may be accompanied by floods occur, the public health personnel and public health nurses are normally the first people who respond to the emergency, given that they are the people who understand and know the available resources used in providing first aids to the affected victims.

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

As Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma successively lashed the gulf coast starting in late August 2005, nature’s fury exposed serious weaknesses in the United States’ emergency response capabilities. Not all emergencies pose this magnitude of challenge. In the United States, the initial—and usually major—responsibility for disaster response rests with local authorities. This “bottom-up” system of emergency management has a long history and continues to make sense in most circumstances. Core Challenges for Large-Scale Disaster

These men and women risked their lives to try to save the thousands of men, women, and children trapped inside the Murrah building. In assumption people would think this traumatic experience of trying to recover lives after the explosion would not only be very heartbreaking, but very traumatic also. Surprisingly, from all the rescue workers only 13% (24/181) were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (North). A test was approved and ran by the Washington University School of Medicine Institutional Review Board (North). This test involved the first group of firefighters who were involved with the bombing victims (North). These firefighters are the ones who helped recover bodies and body parts from the rubble of the bombing (North). “Two-thirds (68%) reported feeling somewhat or very upset by either or both of these activities, although many (36%) described removing the bodies as providing a sense of relief and closure to their evacuation work. Firefighters acknowledged feeling somewhat or very upset by contact with body parts (54%) and body fluids (36%), but encounters with children’s remains (72% of total sample) had the highest rating of associated upset”

As we learn more about the cause and effect of PTSD we can better equip ourselves to help those in need. It is a process that has a clear beginning but an unclear ending. A person who can function normally for many years after seeing combat may find it increasingly difficult to sit in a classroom day after day. With raising awareness on not only the severity but the scope of impact of mental health disorders it can eliminate the stigma of weakness and get these men and women who have put themselves second much of their lives the help they

The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would become the central point-of-contact within the national government in responding to incidents. Since formation in 1979, FEMA’s core missions were to enhance the government’s ability to survive a foreign attack, and to assist state and local authorities in disaster response (Carafano, 2005). And while the two core missions seem heterogenous in scope at times from an outside perspective, the biggest difference between the two tasks is duration. A man-made disaster may be over in a matter of minutes as compared to a hurricane lasting several days, but in both instances the road to recovery is long. In order to streamline response and recovery in either scenario, FEMA was reorganized with new directives to support comprehensive emergency management practices (CRS, 2006). Today, FEMA provides the standard approach and guidance that many local communities may not have due to funding, training, and

Ensuring Resilience to Disasters has more tasking’s than another mission and involves many different agencies to accomplish those tasks. The four tasks are to mitigate hazards, enhance preparedness, ensure effective emergency response, and rapidly recover. The main agency that is responsible for these tasking’s is FEMA. FEMA’s mission is to “reduce the loss of life and property and protect communities nationwide from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters” (FEMA, 2017, p.2). FEMA works with federal and State services to assist them in accomplishing their goals. They also assist local services by assisting in setting up emergency management agencies (LEMA) and set guidance for Emergency Operations Planning (EOP). EOP’s are “plans that provide an overview of the jurisdiction’s preparedness and response strategies. It describes expected hazards, outlines agency roles and responsibilities, and explains how the jurisdiction keeps the plan current.” (FEMA, 2010,

Emergency rescue personnel witnessed the loss of loved ones, furthermore during recovery and rescue efforts they were limited in the amount of debriefing and clinical mental support they received. Priorities at the time focused on saving lives, while mental deterioration was taking place in many simultaneously. “A study published in the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine found a 71.8% prevalence of PTSD among exposed first responders as opposed to 51.4% among their unexposed counterparts” (Bills et al., 2008). In a 9-year longitudinal cohort study with data gathered from 27,449 participants, including a population of police officers and firefighters among other rescue workers; the cumulative results yielded a 9.3% incidence of PTSD, 8.4% panic disorder, and 7.0% depression, with the higher rates found among those with direct exposure (Wisnivesky et al., 2011). Besides risk factors that contribute to developing PTSD, underestimating its pathophysiological effects can exacerbate the condition. According to Boscarino and Adams (2009), even though 90% of adults have experienced at least a traumatic event in their life; only a small percentage develop PTSD. This further validates the concept of the influence of underlying risk factors post

; or employment , lack of psychiatric co-morbidity, especially with stress, depression and other anxiety disorders like the study of Zlotnick et al. , and lower elementary PTSD symptom level . Better results in refugees and veterans have been also related with fewer traumatic occurences being overlive during war and, especially, the lack or low severity of battle exposure . Experiences of being unhealthy without have the access in medical care and exceeded large changes of responsability in work were found to be linked with the continuance of war-related PTSD among civil population . There is also a disputation or controversy in the literature about the most relevanted and neccesary interventions for individuals who suffer from war-related PTSD. Even though there have been calls for the application and implementation of evidence-based psychiatric approach and treatments. Some have indicate that such an treatment may ‘medicalize’ anxienty, people in the role of victims or patients and therefore damage their self-help possibility or potential . The ultimate position suggests that real and pragmatic improvements in the social situation are possible to be more significant than mental health care. Up to now, there has been few research

The experience leading to posttraumatic stress doesn’t have to last hours on end. In fact, the entire confrontation could last but a short thirty seconds. For many first responders in life-threatening situations, these few seconds can adversely affect the rest of their life (Willis, 2014). From that day or night on, the one affected will be plagued by sleepless nights, nightmares during the minimal hours of rest, and periodic anxiety attacks (Willis, 2014). In just thirty seconds, a well-trained first responder can go from being emotionally stable with a happy heart and life to having an unstable family, marriage, and have an inability to effectively perform many of his or her job duties. In just thirty seconds, one can develop a case of (undiagnosed) posttraumatic stress disorder (Willis, 2014).

On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.