Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma

Background Medical-psychological emergency units (Cellules d'Urgence Médico-Psychologiques, CUMP) are deployed following major events where there is a risk of psychological trauma, in order to provide acute and proper psychological care for the victims. Aims To describe and evaluate the risk o...

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Main Authors: Oriane Razakarivony, Nagham Khanafer, Jean-Marc Philippe, Nathalie Prieto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2021-07-01
Series:BJPsych Open
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000612/type/journal_article
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author Oriane Razakarivony
Nagham Khanafer
Jean-Marc Philippe
Nathalie Prieto
author_facet Oriane Razakarivony
Nagham Khanafer
Jean-Marc Philippe
Nathalie Prieto
author_sort Oriane Razakarivony
collection DOAJ
description Background Medical-psychological emergency units (Cellules d'Urgence Médico-Psychologiques, CUMP) are deployed following major events where there is a risk of psychological trauma, in order to provide acute and proper psychological care for the victims. Aims To describe and evaluate the risk of a psychological impact on CUMP professionals after their participation in the aftermath of the hurricane Irma natural disaster. CUMP teams consist of medical and paramedical staff, who can have permanent or volunteer status. We reasoned that there might be a psychological and emotional impact on CUMP professionals, despite their own expertise in the field, after their intervention following hurricane Irma. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted during a feedback meeting. Participating professionals completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale (5th French version), which is composed of three subscales: compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS). Results A total of 53 participants were included with 24 (45.3%) psychiatrists, 15 (28.3%) paramedical staff and 14 (26.4%) psychologists. The median age was 46 years (range 39–55.5) and 29 (54.7%) were women. We found that psychiatrists compared with other professions had higher secondary traumatic stress scores (P = 0.007) and that volunteer psychiatrists had higher burnout scores than permanent psychiatrists (P = 0.03). Conclusions These preliminary results suggest a psychological impact attributable to leadership status, which was reserved for psychiatrists. The results also underline the need for a supportive accompaniment for such teams by promoting formation improvement, psychological support and team cohesion.
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spelling doaj.art-b6243cef1fdf400fba57888cc034afd22023-03-09T12:29:07ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242021-07-01710.1192/bjo.2021.61Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane IrmaOriane Razakarivony0Nagham Khanafer1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6455-238XJean-Marc Philippe2Nathalie Prieto3Cellule d'Urgence Médico-Psychologique, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France; and Faculty of Medicine, Lyon 1 University, FranceUnité d'hygiène, épidémiologie et prévention, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France; and Public Health, Epidemiology and Evolutionary Ecology of Infectious Diseases (PHE3ID), Université de Lyon, FranceDirection Générale de la Santé, Ministère de la Santé, FranceCellule d'Urgence Médico-Psychologique, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France; and Centre Régional du Psychotraumatisme, Hospices Civils de Lyon, FranceBackground Medical-psychological emergency units (Cellules d'Urgence Médico-Psychologiques, CUMP) are deployed following major events where there is a risk of psychological trauma, in order to provide acute and proper psychological care for the victims. Aims To describe and evaluate the risk of a psychological impact on CUMP professionals after their participation in the aftermath of the hurricane Irma natural disaster. CUMP teams consist of medical and paramedical staff, who can have permanent or volunteer status. We reasoned that there might be a psychological and emotional impact on CUMP professionals, despite their own expertise in the field, after their intervention following hurricane Irma. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted during a feedback meeting. Participating professionals completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale (5th French version), which is composed of three subscales: compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS). Results A total of 53 participants were included with 24 (45.3%) psychiatrists, 15 (28.3%) paramedical staff and 14 (26.4%) psychologists. The median age was 46 years (range 39–55.5) and 29 (54.7%) were women. We found that psychiatrists compared with other professions had higher secondary traumatic stress scores (P = 0.007) and that volunteer psychiatrists had higher burnout scores than permanent psychiatrists (P = 0.03). Conclusions These preliminary results suggest a psychological impact attributable to leadership status, which was reserved for psychiatrists. The results also underline the need for a supportive accompaniment for such teams by promoting formation improvement, psychological support and team cohesion. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000612/type/journal_articleBurnoutcompassion satisfactionProQOLpsychiatrictraumatic stress
spellingShingle Oriane Razakarivony
Nagham Khanafer
Jean-Marc Philippe
Nathalie Prieto
Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
BJPsych Open
Burnout
compassion satisfaction
ProQOL
psychiatric
traumatic stress
title Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
title_full Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
title_fullStr Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
title_full_unstemmed Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
title_short Psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical-psychological emergency unit professionals: the example of hurricane Irma
title_sort psychological impact of an acute intervention on medical psychological emergency unit professionals the example of hurricane irma
topic Burnout
compassion satisfaction
ProQOL
psychiatric
traumatic stress
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000612/type/journal_article
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AT jeanmarcphilippe psychologicalimpactofanacuteinterventiononmedicalpsychologicalemergencyunitprofessionalstheexampleofhurricaneirma
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