Voluntary Search-and-Rescue Workers’ Experiences After Witnessing Trauma in the Earthquake Field

Year 2023, , 56 - 66, 31.01.2023

Ayşen Köse

https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1214128

Abstract

Turkey has an earthquake-prone geography, and as in Turkey, when professional resources are not sufficiently available in a community hit by a disaster, volunteer search-and-rescue workers’ help is crucial for quickly meeting disaster-area needs. However, few studies focus on volunteer search-and-rescuer’s post-traumatic reactions although trauma literature has grown regarding professional search-and-rescue teams’ post-traumatic responses. Based on this gap in the literature, this study was conducted. This qualitative study provides an in-depth understanding of secondary trauma and vicarious post-traumatic growth among 13 search-and-rescue team workers involved in disaster relief activities following the 2020 Izmir earthquake in Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and an interpretive phenomenological approach was used. The findings revealed that the participants suffered secondary traumatic stress symptoms, namely, hyperarousal, intrusive images, and thoughts but experienced vicarious post-traumatic growth in discovering personal strength, relating to others, appreciating life, and striving to do their job better. This study’s findings can be a source for developing psychosocial post-disaster support services and interventions for volunteers and be used to improve pre-field preparation training content for voluntary search-and-rescue teams. The findings also underlined the fact that focusing on facilitating vicarious post-traumatic growth is as crucial as overcoming voluntary search-and-rescue workers’ post-traumatic stress.

Keywords

Secondary Traumatic Stress, Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth, Volunteer Search-And-Rescue Teams, Earthquake, Trauma

References

• Asgari, Z., & Naghavi, A. (2020). The experience of adolescents’ post-traumatic growth after sudden loss of father. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25(2), 173-187.
• Barrington, A., & Shakespeare-Finch, J. (2013). Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic depreciation as predictors of psychological adjustment. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 18(5), 429-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2012.714210.
• Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
• Cohen, K., & Collens, P. (2013). The impact of trauma work on trauma workers: A metasynthesis on vicarious trauma and vicarious posttraumatic growth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(6), 570–580. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030388.
• Deaton, J. D., Wymer, B., & Carlson, R. G. (2021). Supervision strategies to facilitate vicarious post traumatic growth among trauma counselors. Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 14(4), 12.
• Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue as secondary traumatic stress disorder: An overview. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (p.1-20). Brunner/Mazel.
• Fraser, R. J. (2020). Mission first, greyshirts always: an exploration into the reintegration experiences of short-term volunteers following disaster response operations. Master's thesis. University of Delaware.
• Guo, Y. J., Chen, C. H., Lu, M. L., Tan, H. K. L., Lee, H. W., & Wang, T. N. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder among professional and non-professional rescuers involved in an earthquake in Taiwan. Psychiatry Research, 127(1-2), 35-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2004.03.009.
• Hagh‐Shenas, H., Goodarzi, M. A., Dehbozorgi, G., & Farashbandi, H. (2005). Psychological consequences of the Bam earthquake on professional and nonprofessional helpers. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 477-483. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20055.
• Haraldsdóttir, H. A., Gudmundsdóttir, D., Romano, E., Þórðardóttir, E. B., Guðmundsdóttir, B., & Elklit, A. (2014). Volunteers and professional rescue workers: Traumatization and adaptation after an avalanche disaster. Journal of Emergency Management, 12(6), 457-66.
• Hefferon, K. (2013). Positive psychology and the body: The somato-psychic side to flourishing. Maidenhead. Open University Press.
• Keenan, P., Royle, L., & Farrell, D. (2009). Issues of stigma for first responders accessing support for post-traumatic stress. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 11(2), 79–86.
• Laverty, S. M. (2003). Hermeneutic phenomenology and phenomenology: A comparison of historical and methodological considerations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2(3), 21-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690300200303.
• Maguire, R. and Maguire, P. (2020). Caregiver burden in multiple sclerosis: recent trends and future directions. Curr. Neurol. Neurosci. Rep., 20, 1–9.
• Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sonsa.
• Nsenga, J. (2020). Examining the lived experience of secondary traumatic stress among mental health professionals helping refugees: a qualitative study Doctoral thesis. Northcentral University.
• Pietkiewicz, I., & Smith, J. A. (2014). A practical guide to using interpretative phenomenological analysis in qualitative research psychology. Psychological Journal, 20(1), 7-14.
• Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2016). An introduction to qualitative research: Learning in the field. Sage Publications.
• Setti, I., Lourel, M., & Argentero, P. (2016). The role of affective commitment and perceived social support in protecting emergency workers against burnout and vicarious traumatization. Traumatology, 22(4), 261-270.https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000072.
• Shakespeare-Finch, J., & Armstrong, D. (2010). Trauma type and post-trauma outcomes: Differences between survivors of motor vehicle accidents, sexual assault, and bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15, 69–82.
• Shinebourne, P. (2011). The theoretical underpinnings of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 22(1), 16-31.
• Sifaki-Pistolla, D., Chatzea, V. E., Vlachaki, S. A., Melidoniotis, E., & Pistolla, G. (2017). Who is going to rescue the rescuers? Post-traumatic stress disorder among rescue workers operating in Greece during the European refugee crisis. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52(1), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1302-8.
• Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305.
• Tedeschi, R. G., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Taku, K., & Calhoun, L. G. (2018). Posttraumatic growth: Theory, research, and applications. Routledge.
• Tedeschi, R. G., Moore, B. A., Falke, K., & Goldberg, J. (2020). Transformed by trauma: Stories of posttraumatic growth. Boulder Crest.
• Thormar, S. B., Gersons, B. P. R., Juen, B., Marschang, A. M., Djakababa, M. N., and Olff, M. (2010). The Mental Health Impact of Volunteering in a Disaster Setting: A Review. Journal of Nervous, 198(8), 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181ea1fa9.
• Þormar, S. B. (2015). Volunteering in the aftermath of disasters: Psychopathology and volunteer management. Universiteit van Amsterdam.
• Walsh, D. M., Morrison, T. G., Conway, R. J., Rogers, E., Sullivan, F. J., & Groarke, A. (2018). A model to predict psychological-and health-related adjustment in men with prostate cancer: the role of post traumatic growth, physical post traumatic growth, resilience and mindfulness. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 136.
• Yaakubov, L., Hoffman, Y., & Rosenbloom, T. (2020). Secondary traumatic stress, vicarious posttraumatic growth and their association in emergency room physicians and nurses. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1830462. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1830462.