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Psychosocial Assessment of Marathwada Earthquake Victims

The devastating earthquake that struck the Osmanabad and Latur districts - of the
Marathwada region in Maharashtra in the early morning of September 30, 1993, left
in its wake death and destruction.
The earthquake struck one and all equally. Soon after the first tremor, many others
followed and many people found themselves trapped under the ruins of their own mud
and stone buildings which collapsed like a pack of cards. The initial rescue work was
carried out by the relatives and friends of the victims, and a little later by volunteers
from neighbouring villages. In many villages the ceiling of the house had given way
and many were trapped under heavy slabs. Moving this proved to be very difficult,
and by the time professional help arrived, it is reported that many of those buried had
already died. Though the major evacuation work of the dead bodies was carried out by
the army which arrived on the scene after a day, the family members had managed to
pull out the bodies of their dear ones and had cremated them in the rubble of their own
houses.
Those who escaped death but were injured were rushed to the nearest hospital again
by the relatives and the local youth. These were admitted in the government hospitals
in Latur and Umargah. Those with serious injuries were shifted to the civil hospital or
to one of the eight other private hospitals in Solapur. Many of those with minor
injuries were treated by the army personnel on the spot. Many people had taken their
relatives of their own accord to private hospitals in Latur, Umargah, Osmanabad and
even Solapur.
Once the situation cleared up, the Earthquake Coordination Committee comprising
government and non-government agencies decided to undertake a rapid survey of the
affected areas. We undertook a survey of 30,000 households in 67 affected villages
and with the help of students from Social Work colleges in Bombay, Solapur and
Nagpur and other volunteers the Institute completed the survey in a record time of 4
weeks. Data was gathered for many aspects including loss, injury and psychological
trauma to the victims. Along with this survey many other smaller surveys were
conducted for specific groups one of which was - Psycho-social Assessment of The
Injured Victims. This was carried out in two hospitals in Solapur and followed up by
visiting a few villages in the affected areas to assess the psychological trauma among
the injured and other victims of the earthquake. For this purpose, information was
gathered on the nature of injury, socio-economic status care-givers and supports
available and rehabilitation needs of the victims. The mental status of the patients,
their psychological adjustment to injury and quality of coping with crisis were also
assessed. A checklist was used while talking to the patient and the care-givers present
at the hospital. Table 1 gives details of the extent of injuries.

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