Abstract
In 1998, 7 weeks after the Good Friday Agreement was endorsed, a car bomb exploded in Omagh in County Tyrone, killing 29 adults and children and two unborn babies. The local health and social care trust mobilised resources to create a comprehensive mental health response to the care needs of the victims and survivors. This service was evidence based, outcomes focused, and research orientated, and contributed to the international evidence base through a series of research studies that helped to inform the further development of the Ehlers and Clark model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma-focused CBT approaches to treatment, and the developing concept of complex grief. The response led directly to creating a regionalised psychological trauma managed care network for Northern Ireland in an innovative approach of co-production (the Regional Trauma Network) and informed the implementation of a recognition scheme for victims and survivors (the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Major incidents, pandemics and mental health: the psychosocial aspects of health emergencies, incidents, disasters and disease outbreaks |
| Editors | Richard Williams, Verity Kemp, Keith Porter, Tim Healing, John Drury |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Chapter | 34 |
| Pages | 252-256 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781009019330 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781009011211 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01 Feb 2024 |
Keywords
- The Troubles in Northern Ireland Political violence Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Access to Document
- The Omagh bomb, the mental health response and the lessons learned
Copyright 2023 Cambridge University Press. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.