We conducted in-depth interviews with KDRT members about their experience in Nepal to evaluate stressors, positive effects, and motivation to engage in disaster relief work to develop approaches to the treatment of disaster relief workers in the future.įollowing the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method ( 9), each researcher developed domains and core ideas from the first several interview transcripts.
These post-traumatic growth factors had a positive, albeit weak, correlation with post-traumatic stress symptoms ( 7, 8). Areas of reported post-traumatic growth have included relationships with others, self-perceptions, appreciation of life, and spirituality. Some studies show that disaster relief work has a positive effect on the mental health of rescue workers. However, the psychological counseling services and surveillance programs available to relief teams are inadequate ( 6). For the reasons mentioned above, relief teams' need for psychological treatment, varying from simple counseling to medical intervention, is high. In addition to PTSD, relief teams have been found to suffer from comorbid psychological conditions (e.g., depression or panic disorder) ( 4), to visit hospitals more frequently with physical symptoms, and to report a decreased quality of life due to heavier non-prescription drug or sleeping pill use ( 5). ( 3) indicated that, PTSD prevalence in firefighters was 15.1% and that higher risk was associated with frequent traumatic experiences and being in the emergency medical service department. ( 2), the prevalence was about 10%, which was higher than that in the general population, 1.3%–3.5%, and lower than that in primary victims, 19%–39%. According to a meta-analysis conducted by Berger et al. The prevalence of PTSD in relief teams varies across studies. Yet, studies regarding stress and PTSD in relief teams have been relatively rare compared with those about primary disaster victims. Due to the nature of the job, relief teams tend to be exposed to various physical and mental hazards. ( 2) defined a rescue worker as any person who professionally or voluntarily engages in activities devoted to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care, transporting individuals to definitive care, or freeing persons or animals from danger to life or well-being in accidents, fires, bombings, floods, earthquakes, other disasters, and life-threatening conditions. Because it is rare for disaster relief team members to be exposed to a massive aftershock, we conducted this study to evaluate the stress of relief work and the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among relief workers.īerger et al. During this period, part of the team returned to Korea, and the remaining 6 members experienced a 7.3 magnitude aftershock, which occurred in Dolakha, Nepal, on May 12.
The Korean Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) established a base of operation (BoO) in Bhaktapur, Nepal to provide foreign medical team (FMT) type 2 medical services for 15 days. Eighty-seven rescue teams from all over the world were dispatched to the disaster site ( 1). On April 25, 2015, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in Nepal. It is recommended that the mental health of disaster relief workers will improve through the further development of effective treatment and surveillance programs in the future.
Many subjects in this study suffered from various stresses after the relief work, but they had no other choice than to attempt to forget about their experiences over time. The most common reason that members participated in KDRT work despite all the stressors and difficulties was pride about the kind of work it involved. Other stressors included conflict with the control tower, diverse problems at the disaster relief work site, and environmental factors. Stress tended to stem from several factors: difficulties related to cooperation with new team members, the frightening disaster experience, and the aftermath of the disaster. Results showed that members typically experienced stress related to untrained team members, ineffective cooperation, and the shock and aftermath of aftershock experiences. We conducted in-depth interviews with 11 Korean Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) members about stress related to disaster relief work and analyzed the interview data using the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method in order to evaluate difficulties in disaster relief work and to develop solutions to these problems in cooperation with related organizations.
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