London Fire Brigade's screen and treat approach to the Grenfell Tower incident

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose is to report on the mental health response to the Grenfell incident within the London Fire Brigade (LFB).

Design/methodology/approach

The LFB implemented screening for the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 28 days, 3 months and 6 months for all personnel directly involved in the incident.

Findings

The prevalence of PTSD within frontline personnel was 13.4% at 28 days, falling to 7.6% at 6 months. The LFB's internal Counselling and Wellbeing Service offered treatment to those scoring above the cut-off for PTSD along with accepting self-referral and referrals from line managers and occupational health. There were 139 referrals within the 12-month period following the incident.

Research limitations/implications

The outcomes for those who engaged in treatment are broadly in line with other studies evaluating post-disaster interventions. Issues for consideration within national guidelines are discussed.

Practical implications

The screen and treat approach adopted by LFB was shown to be a feasible approach to use within such a scenario.

Originality/value

The current study reports on a screen and treat approach to one of the largest single incidents in the UK in recent years.

Citation

Steel, C., Travers, Z., Meredith, L., Lee, D., Conti, M. and Scoging, A. (2022), "London Fire Brigade's screen and treat approach to the Grenfell Tower incident", International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 38-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-07-2020-0036