Background: Rural communities are known for their resilience following disasters, and in the aftermath of disaster events communities look to those in recovery roles for assistance and to drive community recovery efforts. However, in small rural communities, individuals in those roles have often been personally impacted during the event.
Aims: This paper aimed to explore the interacting effects of personal exposure to a disaster event whilst acting within a job role context that requires assistance to be provided to communities who were impacted by the disaster.
Method: Twenty-Five participants who worked in disaster recovery roles within their local communities participated in a mixed methods study which involved semi-structured interviews, and quantitative measurements of PTSD symptomatology and Quality of Life indicators. All participants had been personally impacted by the disaster event.
Results: Workers who experienced a ‘shared traumatic reality' with clients/community members sustained double exposure and were at risk of direct and secondary trauma generated from interaction of numerous stressors. Stressors were found at the individual, client, team, organisational and community levels which influenced the way participants ‘did their job’ and how they coped with the events.
Conclusions: Recovery workers play a pivotal role in the ability of communities to bounce back and restore functioning following a disaster. This study highlights the importance and necessity of support structures and workplace arrangements which acknowledge, and attempt to mitigate, the risk of adverse psychological consequences for those community recovery workers who are personally impacted.