The stress upon rescures involved in an oil rig disaster. “Alexander L. Kielland” 1980

Abstract

Nine months post‐disaster, 134 rescuers involved in an off‐shore oil rig disaster were investigated by using a structured self report questionnaire to chart their experience of coping with disaster impact stressors and their mental and physical health 9 months after the disaster. Of the 134 rescuers, 24 were categorized as professional rescuers, 101 as non‐professionals and 9 could not be classified. Of the 212 victims, all oil rig workers, 89 (42%) were rescued. Seventy‐six percent of the rescuers reported they had been exposed to danger during the rescue operation, and 62% found the experience to be the worst ever. Eighty to ninety percent felt they had coped fairly well with the task, and severely disturbed coping was reported to be below 10% for decision‐making, ability to judge risk, capacity to function as leader, and finally ability to cooperate and act efficiently. For the non‐professionals, severe disturbance in ability to plan before acting was reported by 10% and moderate disturbance was reported by 38%. The frequency of emotional stress reactions during the rescue work can be assessed from the fact that 64% to 52% reported discouragement, restlessness, uncertainty, anxiety and irritation. The stressors inherent in this type of disaster seem to satisfy the DSM III stressor criterion for post‐traumatic stress disorder. Nine months after the disaster 24% reported their mental health to be poor due to the disaster impact, and only the most experienced rescuers had a low health risk compared to the others.

Expositions récurrentes aux événements traumatiques: inoculation ou vulnérabilité croissante?

“…Après l'un des pires désastres marins de l'histoire, un groupe de sauveteurs a dû retirer des décombres d'une plateforme pétrolière un grand nombre de cadavres en décomposition, ce qui constitue une expérience traumatique très intense. Suite à cette expé-rience, Ersland et al (1989) ont observé que les sauveteurs aguerris avaient moins de troubles mentaux (4,3%), que les sauveteurs avec peu (33,3%) ou pas d'expérience (26,2%). Dans la même veine, Hytten et al (1989) ont constaté qu'à la suite d'un incendie, les pompiers volontaires sans expérience avaient un score moyen de détresse post-traumatique plus élevé que les pompiers volontaires avec expérience.…”

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Emergency Service Ambulance Personnel

“…This figure must be judged with caution as the instrument has not been calibrated for diagnosis in this context, but it seems uncharacteristically low in comparison to international research studies, which estimate prevalence to be between 15% -64% (Corneil, 1993;Ersland et al, 1989;McFarlane, 1988;Raphael & Wilson, 1993;Ravenscroft, 1993;Robinson, 1994). Mollica et al (1991:21) make the point that "...the ability of the instrument (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) to detect people who have the disease is well covered, since the cut-off score was set at a relatively high level.…”

“…They found that 10% had experienced the incident as stressful, to the extent of interfering with their job performance. Ersland, Weisaeth & Sund (1989) studied 134 rescuers following an oil rig disaster in Norway. They found that 52% to 64% of the rescuers were suffering from discouragement, restlessness, uncertainty, anxiety and irritation.…”

Sinistres et intervenants

“…En certaines situations, ils risquent également d'encourir des risques à leur santé physique similaires à ceux qu'affrontent les individus auxquels ils portent assistance ou secours (Ersland et al, 1989 ;Laube-Morgan, 1992 ;Marmar et al, 1996). On constate toutefois de fortes différences dans les réactions au stress vécu chez les intervenants et dans les types de facteurs qui les influencent -formation, éducation, personnalité associée au type de travail, etc.…”