Mental health and psychosocial relief of earthquake survivors - activities and interventions

ABSTRACT

Earthquakes are natural calamities which are unpredictable and destructive in nature. The October 8[th], 2005 quake put forth a challenge for the whole nation. The authors describe the methods of appraisal of the situation, methods of needs assessment in emergency phase of disaster, organization of mental health relief efforts and implementation strategies of these services for the survivors, keeping in line with local cultural and social needs and consensus of world authorities on trauma psychiatry and disaster management. Three specific needs were identified, namely, need for psychosocial services for majority of the population, need for people in psychological distress requiring Psychological first aid and people with severe mental illnesses requiring long term psychiatric management. With the objectives of ensuring availability of Psychological first aid to maximum, early detection, intervention and establishing a chain of referral for the severely affected cases, incorporating psychosocial care and rational use of psychotropic in medical and surgical care at all tiers of health services, public mental health education, community mobilization and caring for the relief workers, the Dept. of Psychiatry MH Rawalpindi launched the comprehensive plan for the earthquake survivors. The summary describes the services rendered by the teams of the Dept. during the six months in tabulated forms