The psychological effects of disaster work: implications for disaster planning

The paper focuses on the psychological consequences of disaster work. The issue of identifying staff who may be more vulnerable to psychological distress is discussed as is the need for services to plan psychological screening and support for staff who will be exposed to the trauma of dealing with the aftermath of disasters. It is concluded that active steps need to be taken to incorporate psychological aspects into disaster planning. Specifically, attention should be paid to staff selection, training, use of resources, supervision, debriefing, counselling and feedback.