Voluntary and professional disaster-workers: Similarities and differences in reactions

✍ Scribed by Atle Dyregrov; Jakob Inge Kristoffersen; Rolf Gjestad

• Book ID: 102925923
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 751 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.2490090310

✦ Synopsis

Forty-three rescuers responding to a bus crash that killed 12 children and 4 adults and injured many more answered questionnaires at 1 and 13 months following the crash. This study compared the responses of the voluntary and professional helpers, using the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). For all helpers taken togethes the decline in IES-intrusion and IES-total scores was significant from I to 13 months. The voluntaly helpers reported sign$canth more intrusion and avoidance on the IES at 1 month than professional helpers, and for avoidance the voluntary helpers still evidenced a significant& higher score than professional helpers at 13 months. The GHQ scores at 13 months reflected that the long-term negative impact of the event was low.

KEY WORDS rescuer's reactions; professional and voluntary helpers; Impact of Event Scale; debriefing.

'Center for Crisis Psychology. Fabrikkgt. 5, 5037 Solheimsviken. Bergen Norway.