What Helps Oiled Wildlife Responders Care for Animals While Minimizing Stress and Compassion Fatigue

SIMPLE SUMMARY: An oil spill can have severe environmental effects, as well as impacting the wellbeing of first responders. Oiled wildlife responders are a key professional group for the identification of wildlife at risk and to provide measures to rescue, rehabilitate and release wildlife back to their clean habitat. Currently, there is limited information documenting impacts to responders’ mental health during a spill response relating to stress, burnout and compassion fatigue; thus, there are limited interventions and strategies that can support responders and address these issues. A survey for oiled wildlife responders who participated in either the New Zealand MV Rena incident or the US Refugio pipeline oil spill was instigated to investigate and contribute to this knowledge gap. Results indicated that to support the health and wellbeing of oiled wildlife responders and sustain them to provide the best achievable care for oiled wildlife, ongoing professional training supported by organizations and professional networks in the areas of emergency preparedness, resilience, self-care and capacity building should be made available to enhance compassion satisfaction and role fulfilment. ABSTRACT: Oil spills are environmental disasters and their long-term impact is not just a concern for the environment and economy, but also for first responders’ health and wellbeing. Wildlife, such as aquatic birds and certain marine mammals, are highly susceptible to physiological effects of oiling, and oiled wildlife responders are crucial to provide measures for their survival. The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of oiled wildlife responders and what factors and conditions have helped or inhibited the responders to care-affected wildlife. This study collected responses (n = 50) from a survey of responders who attended either the New Zealand MV Rena or US Refugio pipeline oil spills. Study participants were mostly older (>40), highly educated females. We found there were significant differences in compassion satisfaction, resilience, burnout and overall satisfaction based on age, gender and role. While most responders have only attended limited numbers of oil spill incidents, they reported positive experiences and found it rewarding. Findings from responders indicated that to lessen stress and compassion fatigue during an incident, provision of training and support from professional organizations equips responders with knowledge and skills that can support their personal resilience to respond to disaster events.