DISASTERS - PSYCHOLOGIC RESPONSES IN HEALTH-CARE PROVIDERS AND RESCUEWORKERS

Health care providers and rescue workers are often the hidden victims of trauma. To investigate the psychologic responses of these groups to traumatic stress, we studied health care and rescue workers involved in the 1989 air show disaster at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany. We review reports from descriptive questionnaire data. The reports identi fied two types of disaster experience that were prominent: exposure to the grotesque, and no participation in the disaster relief efforts. R esponses to debriefing are examined. The reports identified three char acteristic responses: identification, sense of helplessness and inadeq uacy, and psychologic distancing. Further empirical study of these are as is needed.