Doctors yesterday called on first responders to care for their mental health and watch for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as rescuers continue to handle the aftermath of Friday’s train derailment in Hualien County.
The crash was the nation’s worst rail tragedy in decades, killing 50 and injuring 200 as of yesterday after the Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office revised the death toll down from 51 following DNA testing.
Taroko Express No. 408 was traveling from New Taipei City to Taitung when it crashed inside the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林) after hitting a crane truck that had slid down onto the tracks from a nearby work site.
Photo provided by Tsai Che-wen via CNA
Considering the trauma and stress faced by rescue workers and police officers responding to the incident, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital psychiatrist Lin Chiao-hsiang (林喬祥) urged additional care.
It is not uncommon for front-line responders to begin having nightmares or intrusive flashbacks, both symptoms of acute stress disorder, Lin said.
If these symptoms persist more than a month after the event, it could develop into PTSD, Lin said, adding that more than 60 percent of those who experience a major traumatic incident develop the condition.
Photo: New Taipei City Fire Department / AFP
This might present as avoidance, he said, giving as examples that train crash survivors might refuse to ride a train or earthquake survivors might avoid the disaster area.
Those experiencing related symptoms or witnessing it in others are advised to seek psychiatric assistance, Lin added.
The suicide of an Yilan County firefighter surnamed Hsueh (薛) in 2019 drew attention to this issue, as it was largely considered to be related to the PTSD that he developed after responding the year before to the Puyuma Express derailment, which killed 18 and injured 291.
Police officers are not exempt from the risk, as they faced considerable stress redirecting traffic, securing the crash site and hearing families identify victims.
National Police Agency Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) after arriving to the scene on Saturday urged the Hualien County Police Department to focus on officers’ mental health, and to provide sufficient time and space for rest.
Hualien City Precinct Chief Hao Hsin-cheng (郝心誠) yesterday said that many officers have been working around the clock, and pledged to invite medical and psychiatric professionals to help after they return to their normal schedules.
To help mitigate the risk of developing PTSD, doctors recommend four strategies: Focus on the present, consume less disaster-related news, appropriately express emotions and seek medical assistance when needed.
PTSD symptoms can become more intense during times of stress or when reminded of the event, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital said, advising those who experience extreme or long-term symptoms to seek help.
The Hualien County Government said that it has set up counters at Hualien Railway Station and the city morgue for psychological assistance, and has integrated resources from county psychiatric associations to help those affected.
People can also call 03-8351885 for assistance.
On Saturday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) passed along advice from counselors on how parents can help their children process the tragedy.
“From yesterday to now has been very emotionally challenging and I know everyone is feeling the same,” she wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to the Hualien Counseling Psychologists’ Association for providing this information, so we can help everyone who was on the train through this difficult time.”
The association recommended that parents refrain from repeatedly watching news or videos of the derailment, but instead focus on caring for themselves and their children.
They should also calmly and simply explain to their child what happened in an age-appropriate manner, if there is a need to do so, it said.
Speaking honestly about how one is feeling is very important, it said, adding that it is entirely normal to feel affected, but that additional care should be sought if such feelings persist after two weeks.
Parents and their children should take steps to improve their mood if melancholy persists, such as seeking religious consolation, exercising more, seeing family friends or engaging in relaxing activities, it said.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not