The
rescuers
Among those involved in rescue operations after the terrorist attacks are firefighters,
paramedics, military and police personnel, medical doctors and nurses and specialists
in the use of rescue equipment. They have been helping immediate victims and
picking up remains of those who died. Because of the way the buildings collapsed,
many rescuers became immediate victims.
Although these workers have been trained to handle critical events, all can encounter
horrendous situations that overwhelm their own defenses. This attack is a catastrophe
so beyond ordinary human experience that almost anyone would suffer a traumatic
response.
Rescuers sometimes feel stressed because they have been involved in an operation
where something went wrong or they thought they should have been able to do more.
That is, they thought they should have been able to save someone they were not
able to save.
The dedication of the rescuers is intense. Many refuse to stop at the end of
their work period. As bodies are uncovered of people who survived the initial
destruction but died later, some rescuers will feel guilty because of a belief
that they were responsible for the person’s death by not getting there
in time.
The point is, there are events that leave even the professional helper with a
traumatic reaction. As a result, it has become standard practice for the workers
at disasters to receive critical incident stress debriefing after their tour
of duty.
Critical incident stress debriefing is a procedure developed years ago by paramedic
Jeff Mitchell to prevent rescuers from developing post-traumatic-stress disorders.
After such disasters as the Hyatt Regency collapse in Kansas City, it was discovered
that if rescue workers were not debriefed, a significant percentage of them quit
their jobs after the event. As a result, the American Red Cross sends disaster
mental-health professionals to do critical incident stress debriefing with all
its workers after a disaster. Many police departments, including Columbia’s,
require it for their personnel.
Relatives and friends
We have seen friends and relatives of victims interviewed repeatedly on television.
Some of the most moving have been relatives who received calls from loved ones
aboard the planes that were about to crash. These relatives have the same reactions
anyone would after the sudden unexpected death of someone close to them. The
outward expression of this loss varies with the individual, but it results in
a life change for all of them.
Besides the sadness that comes with the process of grieving, in this kind of
terrorist attack there is often a great deal of anger. This anger might be turned
on authorities for their failure to prevent the disaster. If there is any indication
facts and information are being held back, the anger will be increased.
Until a body is recovered, a common response is to have a strong feeling that
the loved one might have miraculously survived. One reason for working so hard
to recover all the bodies is that some people cannot get on with their lives
until there is absolute proof their loved one is dead. That means the body must
be found and identified.
Often, the best therapy is a discussion group with other victims to work through
the grieving process. These survivors often receive some comfort if there are
memorials to the dead, such as the one developed in Oklahoma City.
