Nothing prepares you for a disaster, and yet we need to be prepared as much as possible. The Tsunami of 2004 brought out the best in people from all across the world. I had the opportunity to help in a small way with aid efforts for Indonesia and Sri Lanka. A few months back, I met a tsunami survivor from Acheh. Zan described how he had lost everything – family, friends, home, even his spirit. I asked him….how he turned his life around? He said he was inspired by this girl he had seen walking dazed down the street. She had lost everything too, including her clothes. Though naked, she continued walking to find for help. Two days later, he saw the same girl walking down the street. She now had a UNICEF T-shirt on….and was helping other people. This inspired him……to get up, to start up again. If she could do it, he could too. Whether it be an earthquake, a tsunami or nuclear fallout, surviving a disaster, any disaster, is difficult. But stories of survivors point the way to the resilience of the human spirit, and how we can take the lead from people who have picked themselves up…. and even helped others to do the same along the way. So, how can we prepare psychologically for such disasters.
One is to be determined to survive and not give up hope. Easier said than done when the earth has crashed around you, but it needs to happen. You will need to muster every ounce of will to live through this event, holding to hope that recovery of life will take place, even if it takes many years.
Two, is to remain clear-headed so as you can effectively help yourself and others around you. In wide-spread devastations, the scenes around you will be troubling and gory. It will test every psychological dimension of you that often may be paralyzing. Keep your focus on what needs to be done for the immediate moment. You will have time in the months to come to get emotional about what you have seen and experienced. Difficult as it may sound, now is not the time to get overcome with emotions. Remain clear-headed and focused.
Three, prioritize basic needs – safety, first-aid, shelter, food, and clothing. Yes, much would have been lost in such devastation, and it may include family, friends and even pets you love. Your priority would be to seek a safe place to situate yourself and other survivors, away from harms way; to gather materials and medicines where possible to treat injuries; to look for materials to keep people warm; and to look for ways to boil water to drink. Do not delay on prioritizing these basic needs.
Four, keep yourself cognitively and physically active as much as possible in teaming up with other survivors to organize yourselves and coordinate relief and rescue. Such coordination includes helping other survivors, gathering materials, creating a visible place for rescuers to see you, and creating a checklist of survivors and of those missing. While you may have suffered serious loss, so too have others in the same situation. No matter color or creed, the one next to you is now your brother, sister, father, grandmother. Learning from the Japanese, we too can survive a disaster if we are determined, and if we are willing to help others around us.
If you are wondering what happened to Zan and the girl, Zan now heads a team of people in a service industry in Acheh. The girl with the UNICEF T-shirt went on to work full-time with the UN……… helping other survivors of disasters around the world.
Dr Brendan J. Gomez
Psychologist & Fulbrighter
