2006 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages 13-26
In order to clarify how rescuers deal with injured people at the site of a disaster in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, we extracted descriptions about the rescuers’ behavior perceived from the viewpoint of injured people from the report written by nursing students who participated in an aircraft accident drill as injured people, and then analyzed them inductively. The feelings that emerged from the viewpoint of the injured people can be classified into “positive feelings”, such as relief, calmness, and hope, and “negative feelings”, including anger, disgust, anxiety, and fear. The behavior that induced the “positive feelings” was that which “respects the injured people”, “makes the victims feel they are not alone”, and “provides the prospect of survival”, and it was based on an empathetic attitude. The behavior that caused the “negative feelings” includes that which “prioritizes the rescuers themselves”, “ignores or disregards the injured people”, “makes the victims feel they will not be rescued soon”, and “technical deficiency of the rescuers”. In order to reassure, calm down, and triage the victims accurately, rescuers need to adopt behavior that induces “positive feelings”.
