Caring for Seafarers Affected by Piracy
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Transcript of Caring for Seafarers Affected by Piracy
Hamburg, Germany 21 August, 2011
Caring for Seafarers Affected by Piracy
The Rev. David M. Rider President and ExecuAve Director
The Seamen’s Church InsAtute of NY & NJ
What happens to seafarers after a pirate attack? • Have they conAnued their
seagoing careers? • Are they fit to work on
ships • Do they need conAnuing
medical care? • Do they receive adequate
medical care?
1. Undertake a comprehensive study on the effects of piracy on seafarers and families;
2. Develop international guidelines on caring for seafarers affected by piracy; and
3. Establish a piracy resource and assistance center for seafarer and shipowners.
October 2008 ICMA Resolution
ICMA Focus on Seafarers
• ICMA’s 2008 resoluAon and 2009 IMO submission idenAfied scant aVenAon paid to piracy’s effects on seafarers.
• In past year mariAme stakeholders began developing policies addressing seafarers’ health
• But, no empirical research available to support policies!
Focus on Seafarers
• There are no mental health clinical studies published in the scienAfic literature on seafarers
• Since 1950, there have been fewer than five studies published in the scienAfic literature on the impact of “disasters at sea,” but none have studied piracy
SCI’s Clinical Study
• Partner with Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and NY Psychoanalytic Institute
• Produce descriptive data on seafarers
• Better define the impact of piracy on seafarers
• Develop a system to assess trauma and intervene, where needed
• Develop an international network to ensure quality of care, including delivery and follow-up
Clinical Study Design
– Describe the normal and clinical seafarer populaAons
• Fieldwork in Port Newark • Interviews with seafarers by phone, Skype, and email • Interviews with industry representaAves
– Review literature on trauma assessment and treatment
• Summarize relevant literature • Develop guidelines for assessment and intervenAon for the industry and the internaAonal community
SCI Study Status
• Completed initial stage of benchmark interviews
• August 2011 Updated Guidelines (Version 3)
• Developing international network of mental health and health professionals
• Interviewing seafarers affected by pirates
Piracy’s Impact on Seafarers
Pirate tactics – InAmidaAng seafarers – InAmidaAng seafarers’ families – Exorbitant ransom demands – Pirates’ drug abuse – InfighAng among pirates – Divide and conquer – Crew versus officers – Mental and physical torture
Guidelines on Caring for Seafarers v3
• Guidance on mental caring for seafarers’ mental health Before sailing in pirate
waters
At the first news of a piracy incident
While hostage
When release imminent
When crew is released
When crew is to return to duty
Important Considerations • IdenAfying crew needs for Ame of
release, such as medical condiAons
• CommunicaAng with all involved parAes, parAcularly with the
crew’s families
• ReuniAng crew with family as soon as possible aber release
• Medical evaluaAons, including psychiatric assessment, upon release, before returning to sea, with monitoring on first voyage
back
• Including cultural factors in treatment plans
New Informational Cards
• Assessments Why assess? When assess? Assessment techniques
• Debriefing Why debrief? Should you debrief? Debriefing techniques?
Mandatory Assessments?
SAgmas of mental health care
Employability
Cultural factors
Assessment quality
Voluntary mental health assessment
Mandatory assessment and treatment – Could remove sAgma – Must be geared toward returning seafarers to work and disability
benefits for those who cannot
Medical Care and Confidentiality Seafarers encounter complex privacy issues between rights to
privacy and ship owner’s fitness for duty determinaAon
Ship owner has duty to provide medical care, but who determines trauma diagnosis and treatment plan?
Trauma symptoms may be immediate or delayed
Seafarers may fear employer prejudice if “impaired”
Guidelines 3.0 recommend privacy boundary between treatment and fitness for duty exam
New guidelines stress need for immediate triage and treatment plan when seafarer returns home
Local Port Chaplains Serve Piracy Survivors
Port chaplains encounter many seafarer stressors Chaplains follow seafarer’s lead in sharing piracy experience via
empathic listening Chaplains respect unique story of what seafarer experienced
without prior bias about pirate capAvity Chaplains understand cross-‐cultural dynamics of suffering and
sharing pain Chaplains may react differently if one seafarer or enAre crew in
port was impacted Chaplains support seafarer’s need for healing
and reconciliaAon
Closing Thoughts
Need access to seafarers for study
Need for internaAonal cooperaAon between psychologists (clinical and academics), as well as seafarer welfare providers
More descripAve and qualitaAve research needed
The importance of psychologist parAcipaAon in piracy response planning
Trained port chaplains are valuable resources
QUESTIONS?
www.seamenschurch.org [email protected]