1. The establishment of a standard operation procedure for psychiatric service after an earthquake.
- Author
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Su, Chao-yueh, Chou, Frank Huang-Chih, Tsai, Kuan-Yi, and Lin, Wen-Kuo
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL health services , *EARTHQUAKES , *MENTAL depression , *NATURAL disasters , *POST-traumatic stress , *PUBLIC health , *MEDICAL personnel - Abstract
This study presents information on the design and creation of a standard operation procedure (SOP) for psychiatric service after an earthquake. The strategies employed focused on the detection of survivors who developed persistent psychiatric illness, particularly post-traumatic stress and major depressive disorders. In addition, the study attempted to detect the risk factors for psychiatric illness. A Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST) was designed by five psychiatrists and two public health professionals for rapidly and simply interviewing 4,223 respondents within six months of the September 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. A SOP was established through a systemic literature review, action research, and two years of data collection. Despite the limited time and resources inherent to a disaster situation, it is necessary to develop an SOP for psychiatric service after an earthquake in order to assist the high number of survivors suffering from subsequent psychiatric impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
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