“This group of professionals is being created, and we are now, within the next week, ready to deploy a team of psychologists to assist in this next phase of intervention, as requested by the municipalities themselves,” said Sofia Ramalho, head of the Order of Psychologists, today.
The support, which may last up to three months, will also help identify symptoms related to the “traumatic event” of the forest fires.
“The fire doesn’t extinguish when the flames are gone, and often people only later, after the immediate crisis or emergency phase has passed, begin to show symptoms, […] when they become aware of what truly happened and what their losses were,” the psychologist emphasized.
Among the most common symptoms are “irritability, deep sadness, isolation that people sometimes resort to over a longer period, and the inability to act and make decisions due to shock,” she added.
Sofia Ramalho further explained that some symptoms are more prevalent among certain age groups, with children tending to regress, teenagers isolating themselves, and the elderly feeling more fear.
Populations who have previously experienced rural fires are also more vulnerable.
“Reliving a situation makes people more fragile to a new one. And we know that the risk of fires and such situations are more common in certain regions of the country, notably in the Center and more to the north,” she noted, adding that “since 2017,” the year when forest fires claimed over a hundred lives in Portugal, “a more structured response for crisis and emergency intervention has been in place.”
The initial intervention is typically handled by the National Institute for Medical Emergency (INEM), with a pool of about three thousand psychologists specializing in disaster intervention available, through a protocol with the Order of Psychologists, for activation by the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).
Mainland Portugal has been hit by multiple large-scale rural fires since July, particularly in the North and Center regions.
The fires have caused three fatalities, including a firefighter, with several others injured, some seriously, and have completely or partially destroyed homes, agricultural and livestock farms, and forest areas.
Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which it is utilizing two Fire Boss planes, with two more Canadair planes expected to arrive on Friday.
According to provisional official data, by August 21, 234 thousand hectares had burned in the country, with over 53 thousand of those hectares lost in the Arganil fire.
