In case of disasters, serious road accidents with psychosocial repercussions, a team of psychologists and paramedics travels to the scene to provide medical-psychological assistance to the shocked victims. In such situations, not only the victims, but also the rescuers and firemen need psychological assistance after high risk rescue missions. Diana Botnariuc, head of the Psychological Assistance Division of the Ministry of the Interior’s Civil Protection and Emergencies Service, has told IPN that in case of high risk missions, firefighters mandatorily receive psychological assistance after these.
The psychological counseling sessions are mandatory if the rescuers or firemen during the past two weeks faced such crisis situations as rescue operations that resulted in the death of a child or a pregnant woman, loss of a teammate or workmate or took part in large-scale emergency situations with serious traumas and multiple victims with the acquiring of the post-mission feeling of imminent danger or irrecoverable professional failure.
The post-mission psychological assistance includes clinical supervision of rescuers and individual or group psychological counseling sessions, for all those who took part in rescue missions and need, accept or even ask for psychotherapy.
Diana Botnariuc said psychiatric therapy is absolutely necessary if such reactions and manifestations as experiencing of the traumatizing scene in a painful and permanent way through nightmares, obsessive negative thoughts about the event/mission, avoidance of traumatic memories on any pretext or agitated sleeping persist in the post-mission period.
Both the rescuers and firemen are trained to cope with the professional stress first at the initial training course after employment. Those who have mental dysfunction or cannot adapt themselves are not hired at the Emergency Service. Only those who have a distinct mental potential and who, as a result of efficient training courses given by psychologists before employment, do not give up the job of rescuer or firefighter even in difficult or stressful situations can work at the Service. The psychological assistance is necessary and recommended because it strengthens the mental health of the personnel, stated the specialist.
