Unique challenges, unique opportunities
All three experts pointed to several noteworthy differences between the experiences of first responders following 9/11 and those of today’s health care professionals during the pandemic.
“What happened on Sept. 11 was one discrete event, and although it obviously led to years of recovering body parts and cleaning up Ground Zero, and on a national level it led to a war, it nevertheless was a single event,” Dr. DePierro observed. By contrast, the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, and for health care practitioners, “it’s by no means over. Again and again, they are being thrown back into battle, dealing with fatigue, weariness, and loss of life.”
Moreover, “it is my understanding that immediately following 9/11, there was a general coming together in our country, but it’s obvious that today, there’s a great deal of fractiousness, contention, disagreement, and disunity in our country when it comes to COVID-19,” Dr. DePierro continued.
“This takes a great toll, particularly on health care workers who are dealing with COVID-19 on a daily basis and experience a disconnect between what they see on their floors and ICUs of the hospital, experiencing loss of life they’ve likely never encountered in their careers, and what people are saying when they downplay the seriousness of COVID-19,” he said.
Dr. Ofri agreed. “The fragmentation of our country and the failure of leadership at the highest level to provide even the basics, such as PPE [personal protective equipment] for health care professionals, left us baffled, profoundly hurt, and angry.”
A positive difference between the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of 9/11 is the development of sophisticated technology that allows interventions for traumatized individuals – both health care professionals and the general public – through telehealth, Dr. DePierro pointed out.
“I would say that these resources and technologies are a silver lining and should continue to be expanded on,” he said. “Now, busy health care workers can access all manner of supportive services, including teletherapy, right from home or between shifts.”
Another “silver lining” is that the pandemic has shone a spotlight on an issue that predated the pandemic – the mental health of health care professionals. Opening a discussion about this has reduced stigma and hopefully has paved the way for improved treatments and for providing resources.
Dr. Dass-Brailsford added that “it is important, going forward, for all of us to be trauma informed, to know how trauma and trauma-related stress unfolds in both other people and yourself, and to know what coping skills can be used to avoid crises from developing – a task that extends across all types of disasters.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.