Evaluation of post-traumatic stress disorder of 112 emergency ambulance workers on the European side of Istanbul, who were assigned to the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

Throughout history, disasters have always occurred and will continue to occur. One of the natural disasters experienced by humanity is earthquakes. In addition to material destruction, earthquakes can also cause psychological destruction that can last a lifetime. Since our country is in an earthquake zone, large and destructive earthquakes can occur from time to time. The most recent earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş is one of them. After the earthquake, a mobilization was organized all over the country and people from all over Turkey and even abroad went to the region for help. 112 emergency ambulance personnel from the European side of Istanbul were assigned and sent to the region to help people who were injured under the rubble in the earthquake. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the posttraumatic stress disorder of 112 emergency ambulance personnel from the European side of Istanbul who were assigned in Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. The data of this study were collected with the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Scale and analyzed with SPSS 22.0 program. As a result of the analyses, significant differences were found in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms according to various demographic and occupational variables. According to the gender variable, it was observed that women had higher scores in all sub-dimensions and general PTSD symptoms compared to men, thus women experienced more intense emotional and cognitive effects after trauma. According to the age variable, significant differences were found only in the Hyperarousal sub-dimension; it was found that the 46 years and older group exhibited lower levels of hyperarousal symptoms compared to the 36-45 and 31-35 age groups. According to marital status, it was found that single participants had higher scores than married participants in the Re-experiencing, Avoidance, Negative Changes in Affect and Cognitions sub-dimensions and general PTSD symptoms. In the analyses conducted according to occupational variables, it was found that nurses experienced higher levels of PTSD symptoms compared to other occupational groups, while health officers exhibited lower levels of symptoms. In terms of educational level, it was found that master's degree graduates experienced higher levels of avoidance, affective and cognitive disorders compared to undergraduate and high school graduates. In terms of professional seniority, it was observed that those with 1-3 years and 4-6 years of seniority experienced lower levels of PTSD symptoms compared to those with less than 1 year and 7 years or more of seniority. Finally, it was observed that factors such as experiencing a disaster, being on duty or losing a relative did not make a significant difference in PTSD symptoms