Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T06:07:27.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 25 - The Social Psychology of Mass Casualty Decontamination in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) Incidents

from Section 3 - The Role of the Public in Emergencies: Survivors, Bystanders, and Volunteers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

By
Holly Carter ,
Charles Symons ,
Dale Weston  and
Richard Amlôt
Edited by
Richard Williams ,
Verity Kemp ,
Keith Porter ,
Tim Healing  and
John Drury
Richard Williams
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Verity Kemp
Affiliation:
Independent Health Emergency Planning Consultant
Keith Porter
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Tim Healing
Affiliation:
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London
John Drury
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Get access

Summary

Large-scale incidents that involve chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) material, whether accidental or deliberate, remain a high-impact public health threat. This chapter describes research in which the social identity approach has been applied to examine the psychosocial aspects involved in the process of decontamination. It focuses on the willingness and ability of members of the public to undergo decontamination. This research programme highlights the role of social identity in shaping public behaviour and affecting public health outcomes during incidents involving mass decontamination. It identifies that, during incidents requiring decontamination, the relationship between responders and members of the public is likely to play a key part in shaping public behaviour. It proposes that effective communication must begin prior to an incident occurring, continuing into the early stages and throughout the duration of the incident. It also proposes several actions that responders should take to facilitate the decontamination process and its outcomes.

Keywords

CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear)communicationscrowdsmass decontaminationsocial identity
Type
Chapter
Information
Major Incidents, Pandemics and Mental Health
The Psychosocial Aspects of Health Emergencies, Incidents, Disasters and Disease Outbreaks
 , pp. 173 - 179
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cabinet Office. Global Britain in a Competitive Age: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. HM Government, 2021 (www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-britain-in-a-competitive-age-the-integrated-review-of-security-defence-development-and-foreign-policy/global-britain-in-a-competitive-age-the-integrated-review-of-security-defence-development-and-foreign-policy).Google Scholar
Chilcott, RP. Managing mass casualties and decontamination. Environ int 2014; 72: 37–45.Google Scholar
Home Office. Initial Operational Response to a CBRN Incident. Home Office, 2015 (www.jesip.org.uk/uploads/media/pdf/CBRN%20JOPs/IOR_Guidance_V2_July_2015.pdf).Google Scholar
Holloway, HC, Norwood, AE, Fullerton, CS, Engel, CC, Ursano, RJ. The threat of biological weapons: prophylaxis and mitigation of psychological and social consequences. JAMA 1997; 278: 425–7.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H, Turner, J. An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations (eds Austin, WG, Worchel, S): 33–47. Wadsworth, 1979.Google Scholar
Turner, JC, Hogg, MA, Oakes, PJ, Reicher, SD, Wetherell, MS. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Basil Blackwell, 1987.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R, Amlôt, R. Applying crowd psychology to develop recommendations for the management of mass decontamination. Health Secur 2015; 13: 45–53.Google Scholar
Reicher, S. The St Pauls riot: an explanation of the limits of crowd action in terms of a social identity model. Eur J Soc Psychol 1984;14: 1–21.Google Scholar
Stott, C, Reicher, S. How conflict escalates: the inter-group dynamics of collective football crowd violence. Sociology 1998; 32: 353–77.Google Scholar
Drury, J, Cocking, C, Reicher, S. The nature of collective resilience: survivor reactions to the 2005 London bombings. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters 2009; 27: 66–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Amlôt, R. Social identity and intergroup relationships in the management of crowds during mass emergencies and disasters: recommendations for emergency planners and responders. Policing 2020; 14: 931–44.Google Scholar
Le Bon, G. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Ernest Benn, 1895.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R, Amlôt, R. Communication during mass casualty decontamination: highlighting the gaps. Int J Emerg Serv 2013; 2: 29–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drury, J, Carter, H, Cocking, C, Ntontis, E, Tekin Guven, S, Amlôt, R. Facilitating collective psychosocial resilience in the public in emergencies: twelve recommendations based on the social identity approach. Front Public Health 2019; 7: 141.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Amlôt, R. Recommendations for improving public engagement with pre-incident information materials for initial response to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident: a systematic review. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 2020; 51: 101796.Google Scholar
Carter, HE, Gauntlett, L, Amlôt, R. Public perceptions of the ‘Remove, Remove, Remove’ information campaign before and during a hazardous materials incident: a survey. Health Secur 2021; 19: 100–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. UNDRR, 2015. (www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf).Google Scholar
City of London Police. Run Hide Tell. City of London Police, 2017 (www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice-and-support/counteringterrorism/Pages/stay-safe.aspx).Google Scholar
British Transport Police. New National Rail Security Campaign Starts Today: ‘See it. Say it. Sorted’. British Transport Police, 2016 (www.btp.police.uk/latest_news/see_it_say_it_sorted_new_natio.aspx).Google Scholar
National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU). ‘Remove, Remove, Remove’ – refreshed IOR Messaging Released by NARU. NARU, 2018 (https://naru.org.uk/remove-remove-remove-refreshed-ior-messaging-is-released-by-naru/).Google Scholar
Carter, H, Weston, D, Symons, C, Amlot, R. Public perceptions of pre-incident information campaign materials for the initial response to a chemical incident. Disaster Prev Manag 2019; 28. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-10-2018-0342.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Amlôt, R, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R. Effective responder communication improves efficiency and psychological outcomes in a mass decontamination field experiment: implications for public behaviour in the event of a chemical incident. PLoS One 2014; 9: e89846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Amlôt, R, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R. Effective responder communication, perceived responder legitimacy, and group identification predict public cooperation and compliance in a mass decontamination visualization experiment. J Appl Soc Psychol 2015; 45: 173–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, H, Amlôt, R. Mass casualty decontamination guidance and psychosocial aspects of CBRN incident management: a review and synthesis. PLoS Curr 2016; 8. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.c2d3d652d9d07a2a620ed5429e017ef5.Google ScholarPubMed
Clarke, L. Panic: myth or reality? Contexts 2002; 1: 21–6.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R, Amlôt, R. Public experiences of mass casualty decontamination. Biosecur Bioterror 2012; 10: 280–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stott, C, Hutchison, P, Drury, J. ‘Hooligans’ abroad? Intergroup dynamics, social identity and participation in collective ‘disorder’ at the 1998 World Cup Finals. Br J Soc Psychol 2001; 40: 359–384.Google Scholar
Peters, G-JY, Ruiter, RA, Kok, G. Threatening communication: a critical re-analysis and a revised meta-analytic test of fear appeal theory. Health Psychol Rev 2013; 7(suppl 1): S8–31.Google Scholar
Symons, C, Amlôt, R, Carter, H, Rubin, GJ. Effects of threat and efficacy messages on expected adherence to decontamination protocols in an immersive simulated chemical incident: a randomized controlled experiment. J Contingencies Crisis Manag 2021; 29: 54–76.Google Scholar
Drury, J. Collective resilience in mass emergencies and disasters: a social identity model. In The Social Cure: Identity, Health, and Well-Being (eds Jetten, J, Haslam, C, Haslam, SA): 195–215. Psychology Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Haslam, C, Reicher, S. Stressing the group: social identity and the unfolding dynamics of responses to stress. J Appl Psychol 2006; 91: 1037–52.Google Scholar
Drury, J, Cocking, C, Reicher, S, Burton, A, Schofield, D, Hardwick, A, et al. Cooperation versus competition in a mass emergency evacuation: a new laboratory simulation and a new theoretical model. Behav Res Methods 2009; 41, 957–70.Google Scholar
Carter, H, Drury, J, Amlôt, R, Rubin, GJ, Williams, R. Perceived responder legitimacy and group identification predict cooperation and compliance in a mass decontamination field exercise. Basic Appl Soc Psychol 2013; 35: 575–85.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×