Community health in a climate disaster: a One Health analysis of workforce exposure in the Eaton wildfire

Climate driven disasters underscore the interdependence of human health and environmental conditions within the One Health framework. This community case study examines the experiences of frontline healthcare workers deployed during the 2025 Eaton Wildfire in Southern California.

Using a quantitative survey across volunteer staff members serving as frontline healthcare workers (n = 113), preliminary data from a phenomenological study of entry-level workers in that group (n = 15) and operational insights from the response effort, this paper explores how environmental exposures and community displacement shaped worker wellbeing and workforce capacity. We contextualize these data within the One Health framework.

Most respondents felt motivated to help the community during a crisis (93%) and make a difference in the lives of others (81%), yet more than half reported emotional impact as a significant challenge (53%); deeper qualitative inquiry revealed potential for retriggering due to prior trauma in some workers, including personal experience as a refugee, or history of displacement due to violence. Many identified role clarity concerns (43%), mitigated by scope of practice associated with clinical licensure. While most felt supported (85%), they emphasized the need for peer debriefing and reflection spaces, self-care resources, mental health support, and training for future emergencies.

This paper highlights a critical and emerging challenge in climate disaster response: healthcare workers can themselves be disaster survivors, which deeply affects their capacity to respond effectively. Aligning with the One Health principles of holism, collective wellbeing, and reciprocity, the Burnout Dyad is applied to this dual status experience.

Recognizing and supporting these dual status frontline healthcare workers, both responders and survivors, is essential for sustaining resilient health systems in the face of increasing climate crises.