The Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia. Implications for planning for future post-disaster services

Abstract

Adequate disaster management depends on the incorporation of experience and research findings into future disaster plans. To assist in this process, a series of psychiatric patients examined after the Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia are described. The level of handicap experienced was often substantial and interfered with these people's attempts to overcome the losses they experienced in the disaster. Some people had to go to considerable lengths to seek psychiatric help because their general practitioners and bushfire relief workers did not understand the quality of their symptoms and had not arranged referral for them. The types of disorder, the time of presentation and the role played by the disaster in the onset of these disorders are described. The need for an educational and consultative psychiatric service for general practitioners and welfare workers who have contact with disaster victims is discussed.