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The handling of persons with a mental retardation in the course of emergencies
SKŘIČEK, Jakub
In various areas of life persons with mental retardation are paid greater attention and extra care fulfilment of which results from the very nature of this disorder. The field of populace protection oriented on presence of this specific group of persons on-site of an emergency intervention should not be an exception. Operatives of the service which is a part of the integrated rescue system should be prepared for the presence of persons with mental retardation in situations which occur during emergencies. With regard to a high number of persons with mental retardation in the Czech Republic which exceeds the limit of 3 % of the population it is pertinent to address the issue of intervention in emergencies involving people with this specific disability. This diploma thesis deals with a topic of handling persons with mental retardation during emergencies since this issue has not been described in detail anywhere yet so as to prepare future and current staff of the Integrated Rescue System to situations in which their readiness plays an important role and every hesitation may have serious consequences. Ignorance of procedures and mechanisms for handling persons suffering from mental retardation decreases the ability of operatives to handle the situation and the ability to predict and prevent complications that may involve danger to health, life and property not only of people with this disability but also of all other participants. The theoretical part of the thesis is divided into three chapters, which deal with topics that serve as a theoretical base for the practical part, namely Integrated Rescue System, emergency and mental retardation. The chapter focused on Integrated Rescue System describes the basic components of the Integrated Rescue System and its coordination at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. The following chapter gives a description of emergencies, their division, the recommended behavior of persons in the event of emergencies and guidelines for threats due to the incident. The third and final chapter of this part deals with mental retardation and provides insight into this issue focusing on the types of mental retardation and a more detailed description of the diagnostic of light, moderate, severe and deep mental retardation, the most common causes of mental retardation, personal risk factors for people affected by mental retardation, problem behavior of people with mental retardation and their mental disorders including a description of a suitable method handling persons with mental retardation. The practical part of the diploma thesis is based on a qualitative research which was conducted in a form of in-depth structured interviews with professional staff of the facility that provides outpatient social services including day stay of persons with mental retardation. The aim of the thesis was to develop general recommendations for handling persons with mental retardation during emergencies based on the assessment of knowledge about the treatment of people with mental retardation by professionally qualified staff which is in regular contact with this specific group of people. These recommendations should provide support to workers of the Integrated Rescue System during emergencies with presence of people with mental retardation. The resulting recommendations are contained in the last chapter of the diploma thesis. There are a total of 25 recommendations for handling persons with mental retardation during emergencies.
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