How psychiatrists can play their part in the tsunami relief effort

摘要

I was on holiday with my wife and son at a hotel on the west coast of Sri Lanka when the. tsunami struck. It was 10 am, Boxing Day. Only afterwards did we realise how lucky we were to get away unscathed. At the time we were on the third floor of our hotel watching and videotaping the staff clearing up the mess from an initial, small wave. We could have no perception of what would happen next. Two days later our recording of the wave appearing through the trees, crossing the pool, and hitting the hotel was shown on worldwide television before more spectacular films superseded it My wife's nursing skills were immediately put to good use in the hotel lobby, where she dressed and cleaned wounds with the hotel staff, a casualty senior house officer, and a dentist with a suture kit. There was little for a psychiatrist to do at this time. Twelve hours later we were evacuated to Colombo. When we realized the enormity of the disaster we offered our services to the British High Commission, via the Red Cross. A few hours later we had a phone call requesting our help. On the way I worried whether I would be of use. My medical and surgical skills were rusty, to say the least, and I was aware of recent research showing that psychological "debriefing" may do more harm than good. My experience, however, in the midst of that extraordinary time showed my worries to be unnecessary.