Injury
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Observational Study
Impact of combat events on first responders: Experiences of the armed conflict in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.
Care for battle casualties demands special skills from medics, nurses, and tactical commanders. To date, no inventory has been performed evaluating the first responders (medics, nurses and tactical commanders) around battle casualties. ⋯ The quality of care in the pre-hospital phase was considered adequate, symptoms of post-traumatic stress in this group was low. Active involvement of co-combatants and the social support network are essential in adaption after exposure to combat events. Further research is necessary to identity predisposing preventable high stress factors, and to compose a "waterproof" aftercare programme.