The West Sumatra Regional Police deployed trauma recovery teams to evacuation shelters in the districts of Pasaman and West Pasaman in West Sumatra Province as a form of assistance for earthquake victims on Monday.
Thus, the teams to help victims of natural disaster have started working at locations where the evacuees stayed, West Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Teddy Minahasa Putra stated in Padang on Monday.
However, Putra explained that collective trauma recovery efforts could not be implemented due to the limitations of supporting facilities at the evacuation site.
“This is because the trauma healing process must be (conducted) in decent places to offer a sense of comfort to placate psychological conditions,” he explained.
In addition to offering trauma recovery assistance, the police is providing help in the form of staple food for evacuees affected by the earthquake.
Earlier, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 hit the West Pasaman District area on Friday morning, February 25, and claimed the lives of 11 people, inflicted serious injuries to 42 people, and caused light injuries to 346 people, according to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Sunday.
The quake damaged about five thousand houses and public facilities and triggered forced evacuations of some 13 thousand people.
According to the Social Affairs Ministry’s social information center (Puspensos), trauma healing is deemed crucial for Indonesia, as it is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, and earthquakes.
Oftentimes, several natural disaster victims and evacuees experience chronic trauma with related symptoms, such as insomnia, loss of emotion, and anxiety.
Hence, according to Puspensos, the form of trauma healing preferred to be applied for natural disaster victims is psychosocial recovery that helps them to stay in control of their lives.
Meanwhile, trauma healing for children can be conducted through creative approaches, such as by engaging them in games and dances.
Source: Antara News