Citation

Davis J, Stewart L. Accid. Emerg. Nurs. 2000; 8(1): 13-19.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, PO Box 712371, San Diego, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1054/aaen.1999.0078

PMID

11147015

Abstract

San Diego in 1978 was the scene of one of the USA's most tragic and traumatic air flight disasters, when an inbound Boeing 727 collided with a small private Cessna 172. The collision occurred in the vicinity of North Park, a suburb of San Diego. All aircraft occupants were killed or injured and many residents were injured. The wreckage was mainly concentrated in an area about the size of a city block, in a temperature of 100 degrees F or more. The whole experience was unlike anything any of the professionals involved had been prepared for, and beyond anything the civilians involved could have imagined. Many sought out intervention and help and counselling, and this paper examines the implications of the event 20 years on.

Language: en