Pakistan Earthquake - One Year Later - A Case of Compassion Fatigue

Remembering Those Lost in the Tragedy
In Pakistan yesterday a siren was sounded as a somber reminder in the observance of the first year anniversary of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people and left 3.5 - 5 million people homeless. Mourners gathered at the site of an apartment building in Islamabad that collapsed killing 74 people. They hugged, wept and placed flowers at the site of the former building. It can be presumed that many of these people will be experiencing an Anniversary Response.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf praised relief and reconstruction efforts and was hopeful that most of the 3.5 million people left homeless by the quake will at least have a temporary shelter as the second winter approaches since the disaster struck.

Difficulties Funding the Aftermath - Compassion Fatigue?

We feel a sense of obligation, and we want to be strategic in how we respond.
How many times can we keep going to the well, so to speak?

Following disaster emergency officials needed trucks, helicopters, cranes, tents and blankets for the over three million people who were homeless because of the quake. Two weeks after the quake, only 12 percent of the appeal for aid had been covered by firm commitments for aid, or $37 million US out of the $312 million that we need." This response was a sharp contrast to the aid commitments following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, where more than 80 percent of the appeal was funded in 10 days.

Unfortunately for the victims of the Pakistan Earthquake, this disaster occurred after a record-setting year of natural disasters. There was the post Christmas Tsunami, followed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, so by the time that the Pakistan Earthquake occurred, people may have been feeling compassion or donation fatigue, as evident in the quote by Rev. Bryan Burton. Hurrican Stan caused massive mudslides in Guatemala just days after the Pakistan Earthquake.

While compassion fatigue is a term usually applied to health care professionals who deal with traumatic situations where they are constantly helping people in distress, it can also be applied to the aftermath of Hurricane Pakistan. Since so many were had occurred in what seemed to be a relatively short period of time, people and organizations became numb to tragedy and to helping out. Many companies had already given to the tragedies earlier in the year.

Mild Winter & Abundant Helicopters Spared the Second Wave of Death
Following the disaster there was a great deal of concern that a second wave of death would occur if the quake survivors were forced to live through the winter without adequate food and shelter. Fortunately, the relatively mild winter and airlift relief of supplies into the mountainous regions of northern Pakistan and India helped in averting the predicted "second massive wave of death."

A Second Winter Approaching
As the second winter approaches since the disaster struck, hundreds of makeshift shelters cover the tree-covered mountainsides. At this point according to Kashmir officials only 5 percent of people will have finished permanent homes before winter arrives. Tens of thousands of people may still need to be migrated to tented camps from upland villages to escape the freezing weather.

Estimates are that 80 percent of reconstruction could be completed within three years, however some aid agencies estimate that it may take eight years to totally rebuild.

More Resources

• Anniversary Reaction - Distressing Responses on the Anniversary of Traumatic Events - From Your Death, Dying and Bereavement Guide
• Definition of Compassion Fatigue - From Your Death, Dying and Bereavement Guide
• Earthquake Relief Falls Far Behind - From About's Guide to Globalization Issues, Keith Porter

More on Compassion Fatigue

• Medscape. "Compassion Fatigue: An Expert Interview With Charles R. Figley, MS, PhD." Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health. 10, 2. 17 October 2005 October 8, 2006 <http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/513615> (Requires Subscription to View).
• Pfifferling, John-Henry, and Gilley, Kay. "Overcoming Compassion Fatigue." Family Practice Management. April 2000 Vol. 7, No. 4. October 9, 2006 <http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20000400/39over.html>
• Krakower, Karen. "Compassion Fatigue, Part I." Health Leader: Online Wellness Magazine. The University of Texas Health Center at Houston. 15 October 2005. October 9, 2006. <http://www.healthleader.uthouston.edu/archive/Mind_Body_Soul/2005/CompassionFatigue-1115.html>