BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) is enhancing the institutionalization of disaster risk reduction and management in the health sector.
In an interview on Friday, DOH-CAR Director Dr. Amelita Pangilinan said government agencies should strengthen Mental Health Councils and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) teams in local government units to ensure faster and more coordinated responses during emergencies and disasters.
These teams will provide psychosocial and mental health interventions to calamity victims during and after disasters, Pangilinan said.
She noted that during the 4.4 earthquake in Pugo, La Union on Thursday, many were brought to hospitals due to anxiety attacks.
The initial diagnoses included neurocirculatory asthenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, vasovagal syncope, and psychological and physical stress responses.
“In the context of the earthquake that happened, trauma refers to exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, through directly experiencing the traumatic event or witnessing it in person as it occurred to others,” Pangilinan said.
Panic attacks, on the other hand, are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches peak within minutes.
Pangilinan said the DOH-CAR continues to conduct capability-building initiatives, including MHPSS training for both health and non-health professionals, to improve service delivery during disasters. **Liza Agoot
