Psychological stress of emergency medical staff after the largest mass murder incident in post-World War II era

Abstract

Background: A mass-casualty incident occurred on July 26, 2016, at Tsukui Yamayuri-en, which is a welfare facility for people with intellectual disabilities. Nineteen residents with intellectual disabilities were killed, and 26 other residents and staff members were injured. Kitasato University Hospital Emergency and Disaster Medical Center treated many patients in serious condition at the site and in the hospital. Aims: The authors investigated the symptom severity and distributions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the emergency medical staff in charge. The subjects of this study were the staff members, mostly working at the Emergency and Disaster Medical Center, who treated the people injured in the incident. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey using Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) on 104 staff members, and 79 responded. Results: The IES-R scores of nurses were significantly higher than those of doctors. There was no significant difference in the scores between male and female staff members, and there was no correlation between the score of each IES-R subscale and age. Conclusion: Results suggest that mental care should be provided to emergency medical staff, especially nurses who treat trauma patients involved in disasters and heinous crimes.