Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:50:58.757Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impact of Crisis Intervention on the Mental Health Status of Emergency Responders Following the Berlin Terrorist Attack in 2016

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Ulrich Wesemann Open the ORCID record for Ulrich Wesemann [Opens in a new window] ,
Manuel Mahnke ,
Sarah Polk ,
Antje Bühler  and
Gerd Willmund
Ulrich Wesemann*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Bundeswehr Hospital, Berlin, Germany
Manuel Mahnke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Bundeswehr Hospital, Berlin, Germany Fire Department Berlin, Volunteer Fire Brigade Wedding, Berlin, Germany
Sarah Polk
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Antje Bühler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Bundeswehr Hospital, Berlin, Germany
Gerd Willmund
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Bundeswehr Hospital, Berlin, Germany
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Ulrich Wesemann, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin, Scharnhorststr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The most common crisis intervention used with German rescue workers is Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Results regarding its effectiveness are inconsistent. A negative reinforcement of avoidance, due to premature termination of strong emotions during the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), may explain this. The effectiveness of the CISD after terror attacks in Germany has not yet been investigated.

Methods:

All emergency responders deployed at the terror attack on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin were invited to take part in the study; 37 of the N = 55 participants had voluntarily participated in CISD; 18 had not.

Results:

Participants with CISD showed lower quality of life in psychological health and higher depressive symptomatology. Of these, females had lower quality of life in social relationships, whereas males showed more posttraumatic stress symptoms. Emergency responders from non-governmental organizations had higher phobic anxiety. Emergency medical technicians showed more somatic and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion:

There is no conclusive explanation for why rescue workers with CISD score worse on certain measures. It is possible that CISD has a harmful influence due to negative reinforcement, or that there was a selection effect. Further research differentiating occupational group, sex, and type of event is necessary.

Keywords

crisis interventionemergency respondersmental healthperceived work stressorsterrorist attack
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 168 - 172
Copyright
© 2019 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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.)

References

REFERENCES

Bromet, EJ, Atwoli, L, Kawakami, N, et al. Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with natural and human-made disasters in the World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med. 2017;47:227-241.Google ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, JT, Everly, GS.Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: an operations manual for CISD, defusing and other group crisis intervention services. 3rd ed. Chevron Pub Corp; 2001.Google Scholar
Mitchell, JT.From controversy to confirmation: crisis support services for the twenty-first century. Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2008;10:245-252.Google ScholarPubMed
Rose, SC, Bisson, J, Churchill, R, Wessely, S.Psychological debriefing for preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cochrane Database of Scientific Reviews. 2002. https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000560/epdf/full. Accessed November 5, 2018.Google Scholar
Wesemann, U, Willmund, GD, Ungerer, D, et al. Assessing psychological fitness in the military development of an effective and economic screening instrument. Mil Med. 2018;183:e261-e269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroenke, K, Spitzer, RL, Williams, J.The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms. Psychosom Med. 2002;64:258-266.Google ScholarPubMed
Angermeyer, MC, Kilian, R, Matschinger, H.WHOQOL-100 und WHOQOL-BREF. Handbuch für die deutschsprachige Version der WHO Instrumente zur Erfassung der Lebensqualität. [WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOL-BREF. Handbook for the German language version of the WHO Instruments for recording the quality of life]. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 2000.Google Scholar
Weathers, FW, Litz, BT, Keane, TM, et al. The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Boston, MA: National Center for PTSD; 2013.Google Scholar
Derogatis, LR, Melisaratos, N.The Brief Symptom Inventory: an introductory report. Psychol Med. 1983;13:595-605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wesemann, U, Zimmermann, P, Mahnke, M, et al. Burdens on emergency responders after a terrorist attack in Berlin. Occup Med. 2018;68:60-63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed