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Secondary Traumatic Stress Response in Fire Fighters in the Aftermath of 9/11/2001

Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, University of Washington, School of Nursing, Seattle, WA 98195, randyb{at}u.washington.edu

Shirley Murphy

Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, University of Washington, School of Nursing, Seattle, WA 98195

L. Clark Johnson

Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, University of Washington, School of Nursing, Seattle, WA 98195

Marcus Nemuth

Psychiatry Emergency Service, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98101

On September 11, 2001, 343 fire fighters died in the line of duty responding to the terrorist attacks, explosions, fires, and collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. Coincidentally, a convenience sample of professional urban fire fighters in a northwestern state was participating in a leadership intervention demonstration project and completed survey measures including a measure of posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The purpose of this study was to assess secondary traumatic stress symptoms in separate cohorts drawn from this convenience sample of the fire fighters, who completed surveys either prior to or in the days and weeks following the events of 9/11/01. The results suggest that elevations in posttraumatic stress symptoms reported by the fire-fighter cohort completing surveys at one-week post-9/11 represented an acute secondary traumatic stress reaction to the events of 9/11/01.

Key Words: Secondary traumatic stress • fire fighters • terrorism • acute posttraumatic stress

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