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A Phenomenological Analysis of Disaster-Related Experiences in Fire and Emergency Medical Services Personnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2012

Erik De Soir ,
Marcia Knarren ,
Emmanuelle Zech ,
Jacques Mylle ,
Rolf Kleber  and
Onno van der Hart
Erik De Soir*
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium
Marcia Knarren
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Emmanuelle Zech
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium
Jacques Mylle
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium
Rolf Kleber
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Onno van der Hart
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence: Erik De Soir, MSc, MA Stress and Trauma Study Center 30 Avenue de la Renaissance B-1000 Brussels, Belgium E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

This article explores the experiences of fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel during and immediately after a technological event using a phenomenological approach. Personnel engaged in the rescue operations during and immediately after the Ghislenghien gas explosion reflected upon their experiences in their responses to a specially designed, self-reporting questionnaire that included open-ended questions. Firefighters reported more perceived threat and direct exposure to death than did EMS personnel. Qualitative analysis indicates that the central characteristics of this potentially traumatizing event were the suddenness and massiveness of the impact, and the fact that it involved young victims and/or multiple deaths. With regard to emotions, powerlessness, horror, fear, a sense of apocalypse, and grief were experienced by both firefighters and EMS personnel. Firefighters noted that the death of colleagues, the involvement of friends and family, the massive impact, and exposure to the burned victims were most shocking. Emergency Medical Services personnel and in-hospital staff reported the impact, the confrontation with death, the involvement of friends and family, and the pain, suffering, and screaming of burned victims as the most shocking aspects of this event. Qualitative differences in the lived experiences of firefighters, EMS personnel, and in-hospital staff might be explained by differences in life threat, contact with death, and various degrees of training.

De Soir E, Knarren M, Zech E, Mylle J, Kleber R, Van der Hart O. A phenomenological analysis of disaster-related experiences in fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(2):1-8.

Keywords

Emergency Medical ServicesEMSfirefighterslived experiencetechnological disaster
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 115 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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