Operation Orderly--prevalence and degree of distress among military personnel following their ambulance experiences in London District.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and degree of distress among military personnel following their experiences during Operation Orderly in London District. A questionnaire was distributed at the end of the deployment which inquired about distressing experiences. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) were included to provide an objective measure of the distress. Thirty two per cent of respondents admitted to distressing experiences, of these a subgroup (20.5%) who were more severely distressed welcomed the opportunity to discuss their experiences.