Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:59:20.460Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Debriefing after massive road trauma: perceptions and outcomes

from Part II - Debriefing: models, research and practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2010

Beverley Raphael
Affiliation:
New South Wales Health Department, Sydney
John Wilson
Affiliation:
Cleveland State University
Get access

Summary

EDITORIAL COMMENTS

Massive road trauma such as the crash of a tourist or school bus brings widespread physical and psychological trauma. These effects are experienced by survivors (injured and uninjured), bereaved family members of those who die, rescue and emergency personnel, and the communities in which they occur.

Watts reviews studies in this field, and describes his own research findings, which cover three major incidents of this kind in Australia. His and other findings are clear about the substantial and often long-lasting morbidity that may follow. With each of the groups involved there are identified needs for psychological assistance and Watts reviews what is known about debriefing, which has been the most frequently applied prevention and support measure. The findings of this work make clear that debriefing is not appropriate for survivors or the bereaved, as it may add to their distress. Nevertheless group-based support focussing on information and sharing of concern may be helpful. Such groups may arise naturally, or be drawn together and may represent the grouping of those affected who were a prior established group (e.g. class of school children, club group of the elderly). In any case this is not a traditional debriefing but may be classified, Watts suggests, as an ‘adaptive’ debriefing in that it has information, shared understandings of what has occurred and mutual support for planning and needs as its role.

Type
Chapter
Information
Psychological Debriefing
Theory, Practice and Evidence
, pp. 131 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×