The preventive psychiatry of natural hazard.

Conference Dates 26-29 May 1976

The management of natural disaster situations is discussed from the point of view of preventive psychiatry. It is suggested that by general educative measures, the training of specific persons in preventive techniques for managing disaster situations, and by directing further specialized care to those at high-risk, the psychiatric and social morbidity related to the disaster experience may be lessened. Pre-disaster training and disaster management are discussed with reference to warning, impact, rescue and recovery phases of disaster. Emphasis is on the need for adequate inter-personal support, personal channels of communication and the essentials of psychological first aid during the disaster; the response of separation and loss; the stresses entailed in evacuation; the recognition of high-risk groups requiring careful follow-up and management; the chronic stress problems of the recovery phase and the needs of disaster victims to be involved in their own and their community's rehabilitation