The experiences of dealing with consequences of an avalanche – surviving soldiers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore and describe experiences of daily life after having experienced an avalanche three decades ago.

Method: This paper presents a qualitative study of 12 male survivors of an avalanche during their military service, interviewed 30 years post-disaster.

Findings: A comprehensive understanding of the categories led to the latent theme “Finding my own way of managing and dealing with life”. Findings revealed three categories describing experiences of daily living: (i) A comfortable life; (ii) A challenging, yet accomplished life; (iii) A demanding life. The first category represents a greater degree of using adaptive coping strategies for managing everyday life compared to the other two categories. The third category represents the group having the most challenging consequences. Among the three, the latter category conveys the most maladaptive coping strategies.

Conclusions:The participants had different experiences with regards to their health and how they coped with their everyday life after the avalanche disaster. Insights into coping strategies may provide a guide for appropriate interventions for survivors dealing with traumatic events.

KEYWORDS:

• Health
• avalanche
• trauma
• coping strategies
• daily life
• qualitative interviews
• content analysis
• well-being

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the participants who shared their personal stories.

Availability of data and materials

The raw data is confidential and cannot readily be shared. Data may be shared with researchers obtaining permission from the Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical Ethics and Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, Institute of Military Psychiatry. After permission has been obtained, data can be made available from The Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, Institute of Military Psychiatry, contact Lars-Petter Bakker: [email protected]

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed substantially and according to the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being guidelines to be recognized as authors. LPB, JGR and EKG planned and prepared the study. The thematic interview guide was developed by LPB in consultation with one of the co-authors (EKG). Further, the verbatim accounts were reviewed by the interviewer (LPB) and two of the co-authors (EKG and SE). LPB informed, invited the participants, and conducted all the interviews. LPB and EKG participated equally in the analysis of transcripts with essential methodological contribution from SE. LPB and EKG prepared the initial draft of the manuscript, which was later worked out in collaboration with all authors. Manuscript editing: LPB, SE, JGR and EKG. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript, and share the responsibility for what is published.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.