Effects of the Avianca Aircrash on Disaster Workers

Seventy-eight emergency workers at the AVIANCA aircrash a Cove Neck, New York, filled out questionnaires dealing with their reactions to the disaster. The number of fatalities witnessed was strongly predictive of number of symptoms, while the proportion of injured dealt with who survived was negatively correlated with number of symptoms. Cognitive variables were related to the distress measures. Contrary to hypothesis, disaster training was unrelated to the distress measures, even when training was rated as effective.