Direct assistance to victims in rescue operations as a risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder in police officers: The experience of the Toulouse disaster in 2001

Nelly Agrinier, MD; Artus Albessard, MD; Valerie Schwoebel, MD, PhD; Eloi Diène, MD; Thierry Lang, MD, PhD

doi:10.5055/jem.2009.0012

Authors

Nelly Agrinier, MD
Artus Albessard, MD
Valerie Schwoebel, MD, PhD
Eloi Diène, MD
Thierry Lang, MD, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2009.0012

Keywords:

post-traumatic stress disorder, police officers, rescue workers, industrial disaster, cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (S-PTSD) in police personnel involved in rescue operations after the AZF chemical plant explosion in Toulouse, France, on September 21, 2001, and the relationship between S-PTSD and the type of rescue operation.
Design: A cross-sectional survey was performed, using a mailed questionnaire.
Participants: Six hundred and thirty-five out of 1,500 rescue operations police officers participated in the study. All were involved with the explosion site after the industrial disaster.
Main outcome measure: The outcome variable was the presence of S-PTSD.The explanatory variables were the level of exposure during the rescue tasks.
Statistics: Logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (OR).
Results: The prevalence of S-PTSD among policemen was 4.1 percent [95% CI: 2.1-6.2]. Policemen who had immediate health consequences (OR 4.6; [95% CI: 1.3-16.4]) and those who provided medical assistance to the victims (OR 5.7; [95% CI: 1.6-20.2]) had a higher prevalence of S-PTSD.
Conclusions: Providing medical assistance to the victims was a major risk factor of S-PTSD for police officers. Training police officers to take part in medical activities at the time of the disaster might lead to a reduction of SPTSD incidence in this group.

Author Biographies

Nelly Agrinier, MD

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service d’Epidémiologie, Toulouse, France.

Artus Albessard, MD

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service d’Epidémiologie, Toulouse, France.

Valerie Schwoebel, MD, PhD

Cellule Inter-régionale d’Epidémiologie de Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France.

Eloi Diène, MD

Institut National de Veille Sanitaire Toulouse, Toulouse, France.

Thierry Lang, MD, PhD

(for the Scientific and Operational Committees for follow-up of the effects on health of the AZF plant explosion), INSERM, U558, Toulouse, France; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service d’Epidémiologie, Toulouse, France.

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