Abstract
This paper presents a summary of psychological stress and describes early intervention approaches for working with traumatized victims of critical incidents. This paper relates to the response to a fiery inferno in a hypothetical setup that has left many people homeless, injured, and claimed some lives. Many studies have shown that crisis intervention programs that incorporate psychiatric emergencies always have positive results.
Introduction
Crisis refers to significant risks to an operation that can have adverse effects if not taken care of. A crisis normally causes a threat to public safety, financial losses, and damage to reputation (Cornall, 2005, p.7). A crisis can also be defined as a severe emotional reaction to a very strong stimulus or demand. Core characteristics of crisis, in this case, are a disturbance of the balance between thinking and emotions, failure of coping mechanisms, and empirical evidence of destruction/injury to an individual(s) (Cornall, 2005, p.8).
Crisis Description
Description of the amount of damage and what caused it
Imagine a case where a power surge has led to one of the worst fire infernos in the slums in one of the countries in Africa. Nearly 90% of the houses in these slums are normally light wooden structures with roofs covered with iron sheets. In addition, more than 70% of the electricity used in these houses is normally stolen electricity fixed by unscrupulous dealers, thus exposing more than 1 million people living in these slums to high risks of electrocution and other electric hazards. The fire caused by the power surge in these slums spreads faster like wildfire affecting more than 500 thousand people and destroying over 100 thousand houses. To make it even worse, the slum is also very congested with very little space for the firefighters and rescuers. Visualize these low-income workers coming home from their workplaces to find the place they once call home totally consumed by fire which has also claimed the lives of more than 200 people with a majority of the survivors sustaining over 80% burn. More than half of the residents i.e. 500 thousand plus victims have lost everything including their property and shelter since what is left are only ashes.
Description of the victims
The scene is characterized by dead bodies fished from the ravages and these bodies are burnt beyond recognition. The majority of those who have survived have sustained serious burns with only a few cases of minor injuries. The survivors who have sustained major and minor burns are confused and agonizing because of pain, at the same time, those who have lost all of their properties and loved ones are in shock while some are mourning hysterically. The victims of the catastrophe (both injured and non-injured) are completely traumatized. The psychological trauma mainly originates from the demise of loved ones and the loss of the only property they possessed. The ultimate extent of the trauma may never be identified or reasonably estimated (Gould et al., 2003, p. 386).
Besides providing the victims with basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing as short-term measures, psychological intervention to help the victims deal with the trauma is equally important both in the short run and in the long run. Large-scale fire infernos are also classified amongst critical incidents since they cause both physiological and psychological injury to the victims. The strong emotion attached to such an event has the potential of interfering with an individual psychologically. Roberts, (2002) refers to the immediate emotional reactions to such kind of crisis as cataclysms of emotions, and they include sock, fury, denial, fury, complete sadness, bewilderment, fear, guilt and sleeplessness, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts, and grief among others (Gould et al., 2003, p. 387; Roberts, 2002, p 5).
Information about the perpetrator
It was later realized that the residents of the slums are the ones to blame for the incident that happened to them. The illegal power connections that they did and the improper planning of the slums which they were warned earlier by the government is the main cause that led to the incident and the loss of lives.
Crisis intervention technique
The most common technique used to deal with these types of emotional trauma is known as critical incident stress debriefing (Gould et al., 2003, p. 388). This technique focuses on helping the victims to deal with both physiological and psychological challenges. This can be conducted on the scene of the event or near the site of the event. One of the components of this technique known as defusing allows for ventilation of emotional trauma and reflections associated with the catastrophe. Critical incident stresses debriefing and defusing should be done less than three days after the crisis. Psychological experts explain that crisis victims who have not received the above help are likely to experience cataclysms of emotions stated above (Roberts, 2002, p. 5; Gould et al., 2003, p. 388-389).
The protocol of the crisis intervention technique
There are seven protocols used by psychologists in critical incident stress debriefing. The first step is to evaluate the impact of the crisis on the support staff and the victims. Secondly, identify the instant concern relating to the security and safety of both victims and support personnel. The third step is the diffusion process. This entails allowing the victims to ventilate their thoughts, emotions, and experiences associated with the crisis and providing a rationale for probable reaction. The fourth step is the prediction of the events and reactions as a result of the crisis. The fifth step is carrying out a procedural review of the crisis and its impact on the victims, both physiologically and psychologically. The sixth step is mobilizing the personnel and resources to start the rebuilding process. The last step is debriefing which helps in re-evaluation of the overall process and monitoring of the progress (Roberts, 2002, p. 6-7; Roberts, 1990, p. 1-2).
Conclusion
A psychological crisis is often caused by a lack of mental capacity by an individual to cope with a very traumatic event. Psychological crises cannot be foretold based on the catastrophic event that has taken place. People react differently to traumatic events and therefore, a psychological crisis in one person can not be the same with another person who has experienced the same event. Many studies have shown that crisis intervention programs that incorporate psychiatric emergencies always have positive results.
References
Cornall, R. (2005). New levels of government responsiveness for ‘all-hazards’; the Management of natural disasters and emergencies. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 64(2), 27-30.
Gould, M.S., Greenberg, T., Velting, D.M., & Shaffer, D. (2003). Youth suicide risk and Preventive interventions: a review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(4), 386-405.
Roberts, A.R. (1990). Contemporary Perspectives on Crisis Intervention and Prevention. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Roberts, A.R. (2002). Assessment, crisis intervention, and trauma treatment: the integrative ACT intervention model. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 2, 1-21.