A longitudinal study of Oklahoma City bombing rescue and recovery responders providing qualitative introspections of their experience nearly a quarter century later

Abstract

Background: The 1995 terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City provided a particularly useful research opportunity. It was the most severe incident of terrorism on American soil at the time. Prior research on rescue and recovery workers responding to such events has been largely limited to early post-disaster periods, most focusing on psychopathology such as post-traumatic stress disorder. This incident provided a unique unrealized opportunity to examine long-term psychosocial effects on first responders studied longitudinally over decades after the event, using qualitative methods to yield rich, in-depth observations.

Methods: A volunteer sample of 181 volunteer first responders for the Oklahoma City bombing was initially assessed 3 years after the bombing, and 124 (70 percent of those documented to still be alive) participated in longitudinal follow-up interviews an average of 23-24 years after the incident. The follow-up study included open-ended, nondirected qualitative interviews of the workers’ personal disaster narratives.

Results: The experience of providing rescue and recovery efforts after the Oklahoma City bombing had lasting effects on these first responders’ personal and professional relationships. It taxed their coping skills, elicited an enduring resilience, and permanently altered their outlook on life. Unlike the directly exposed survivors, these first responders found meaning and affirmation in their professional service, reaffirming their original motivations to be part of a helping profession that in today’s world now requires recovery and rescue work in major terrorist incidents. Even though the work was very gruesome and taxing, more than two decades later, these workers expressed pride in their participation and had no regrets about it.

Conclusions: The Oklahoma City bombing experience was life-changing for first responders, setting a standard for those who will follow in their footsteps. Continuing to conduct this line of work in the decades to follow reflected a conviction that their continued service honored both survivors and members of their profession. Despite the positive aspects of their perspectives on their experience, the attention they received to their emotional and psychological processing and recovery was limited, implying the importance of additional development and research on assistance to these needs.