Mental Health Impacts of Community Evacuation – Wildfire Case Study

Presented by: MHA - Glenda Watson ERC – Patrick Hassler

1 Outline • Summary: Fires of 2015 • The Changing Emergency Climate • Guiding Trauma Definition • Community Impacts: Holistic Displacement • Children • Parents • Elders • Survivors • Impacts faced by supports • Health Services, First Responders – EMS & Firefighters • Mental Health Providers

• Crisis Teams 2 Summary: Lac La Ronge Indian Band Fires of 2015

• Largest fire response in history. LLRIB members from LaRonge, , Kitsaki, Grand Mothers Bay, Hall Lake, Sikachu, Sucker River, Clam Lake, and were displaced. Evacuees were sheltered in North Battleford, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina, Beardy`s and Okemasis Cree Nations, and Cold Lake Alberta. • Evacuation Time Line – June 7 – evacuation of approx. 566 LLRIB health priority members evacuated – June 10 – 904 evacuated receiving emergency social services – June 29 – 1147 evacuated receiving emergency social services – July 4 – 6700 evacuated receiving emergency social services – July 7th - 7320 evacuated receiving emergency social services – July 13th 10,142 evacuated receiving emergency social services

3 Summary cont’d

• Repatriation Time Line  Repatriation for all communities were underway by July 20 and all community members were home July 22. • Challenges  The 2015 fire season began like a typical fire season, what challenged, overwhelmed, and eventually caused breakdowns in response was the daily increase in evacuee numbers and the sustained duration of the event.  Issues were compounded by the number of shelter sites.  Smoke and fire threats did ebb and flow “regionally” – This caused groups of people to return to their homes only to be re-evacuated days later (Sikachu, Hall Lake, Clam Lake).

4 The Changing Emergency Response Environment Current Climate: – Occurring more frequently – Longer Duration – Lack infrastructure and manpower • Philosophy surrounding risk management • Preparation, and mitigation • Avoid response heaviness (reactivity) = community safety Response: – Open dialogue to have discussion with an entire team that includes the impacts on response teams, and community members • Inclusion of realistic self-care strategies

5 Guiding Natural Disaster Trauma

Definition (Harville, Jacobs, Boynton-Jarrett, 2015) “Natural disasters are usually considered traumatic, but in fact result in a range of physical and mental health outcomes. The degree of exposure to a disaster is an important risk factor for developing post-disaster PTSD” (p.2)

“More severe and longer lasting mental health outcomes are often associated with events that involve physical injury, witnessing death or injury of others, threat to life, and property loss.” (p.2)

6 Community Impacts: Holistic Displacement

Parents/Elders • Spiritual • Challenge there spatial awareness of surroundings (rural to urban) (Treppel, 2015) • Anomie – a feeling of being disconnected (Menzies & Lavallee, 2014) • Mental: • Transposition (time gaps, uncertainty, abandonment) of services (Menzies & Lavallee, 2014) • Emotional: • Undue stress experienced during relocation (Treppel, 2015) • Physical: • basic hygienic needs not met, lack of proper nutrition based on health needs • Physically safe environment (triggering events through transportation, and re-location) (Treppel, 2015) 7 How do the impacts of our Parents & Elders impact our Children? Children • Spiritual: • Emotional (Shepard & Kulig, 2017) : • Challenge there spatial awareness of • Inability to understand the complexities surroundings (rural to urban) (Treppel, of relocation, and or loss of homes 2015) • Emotional neglect, parents preoccupied • Lack of holistic view of recovery, that is with post-recovery process parents took a step by step process, one • Physical: day at a time rather than a “whole” perspective. • basic hygienic needs, food needs based on age (lack of formula for babies) • Mental (Shepard & Kulig, 2017) : (Treppel, 2015) • Family routines & Activities • No educational exposure • Partial or full PTSD (following 6 months)

8 Impacts faced by Supports

Mental Health Providers -Therapists, Counsellors, Crisis Teams • Support staff eventually became evacuees themselves, which in turn impacted the level of familiar support offered to community members. • “Community health resources, where available, accompanied the priority evacuees to support their physical and mental health while out of the community” (Treppell, 2015,p. 11) Health Services -RN’s, LPN’s, RPN’s, Physicians & First Responders -EMS & Firefighters (Fullerton et al., 1992, & Scaffa, 2011) • Identification with the victim • Helplessness & Guilt • Fear of the Unknown • Physiological Reactions (Autonomic Nervous System: PNS, SNS) (Foundation of Human Enrichment, 2007)

9 References

• Cacciatore, J., Carlson, B., Michaelis, E., Kilimek, B., & Steffan, S. (2011). Crisis Intervention by Social Workers in Fire Departments: An Innovative Role for Social Workers. Social Work, 56(1), 81-88 • Emily W Harville, Marni Jacobs, & Renée Boynton-Jarrett. (2015). When is exposure to a natural disaster traumatic? Comparison of a trauma questionnaire and disaster exposure inventory. PLoS ONE, 10(4), Article e0123632. • Foundation of Human Enrichment. (2007). Somatic Experiencing. Healing Trauma. • Fullerton, C., McCarroll, J., Ursano, R., & Wright, K. (1992). Psychological responses of rescue workers: Fire fighters and trauma. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 62(3), 371-378. • Menzies, P. & Lavallee, L. (2014). Journey to healing: Aboriginal people with addiction & mental health issues. Toronto, ON: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

10 References

• Shepard, B., Kulig, J., & Botey, A. (2017). Counselling Children after Wildfires: A School-Based Approach/Le counseling auprès des enfants après un incendie de forêt : Une approche centrée sur l'école. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy (Online), 51(1), 61-80 • Treppel, D. (2015). 2015 Northern Saskatchewan Wildfire Study. Northern Inter-tribal Health Authority.

11 Thank you for listening

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Office Complex Main Floor, 2300-10th Avenue West Prince Albert, Saskatchewan S6V 5Z1 Tel: (306) 953-5000

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