As backing for victims is a crucial step in the resilience and reconstruction process, several psychological support units have been set up in the regions affected by the earthquake to help the population still in shock to recover from the ordeal and emerge even stronger.
The psychological support unit at the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) field hospital in the rural commune of Asni (Al Haouz province), set up in accordance with the High Instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of the General Staff of the FAR, is one of the emergency psychological support units set up in the wake of the earthquake.
Bringing together mental health professionals and social workers, it receives nearly 60 cases a day, the vast majority of them women and the elderly.
Many of the people who seek support from this unit are going through a difficult situation following the loss of family members in the earthquake.
The unit provides invaluable assistance to people suffering from post-traumatic stress, including earthquake flashbacks, recurring nightmares, sleep disorders, insomnia, irritability, difficulty concentrating, lack of appetite or bulimia.
At this stage, it treats these non-disabling symptoms, which constitute psychological states of adaptation whose severity differs according to the vulnerability, genetics and medical history of the individual.
A place where people can express their fears, anxieties and hopes, share their emotions and talk about their distress, this unit aims to identify people suffering from post-traumatic stress, to help them mourn and regain their confidence.
For the medical staff operating in this unit, it is vital to support these people, as they can develop post-traumatic disorders or chronic depression if they do not receive the support they need.
Installed and commissioned in less than three days, the FAR field hospital in Asni is also providing vital assistance to the inhabitants of the disaster-stricken douars (small villages) of the Al Haouz province in a range of medical specialties, including orthopedic surgery, maxillofacial surgery, ENT surgery, neurosurgery and ophthalmology.
Medical and surgical care is provided day and night under the supervision of 24 doctors, supported by nurses and social workers.
The hospital also has an emergency department, an operating theatre, a pharmacy, a laboratory and an X-ray department, offering care in general medicine, gynaecology, traumatology, paediatrics and ophthalmology.
This military medical-surgical field hospital reflects the impressive logistical mobilization in support of the earthquake-affected population.