MANILA –
Four back-to-back typhoons pummeled the Philippines in 10 wild days of November. The storms followed 14 other typhoons to lash the archipelago last year, leaving its rescue teams frazzled, frustrated and burnt out.
“Compassion fatigue” has now washed over emergency workers in a mammoth wave, submerging the medics and volunteers who stepped into the fray — again and again — with a sense they’re drowning.
“No one is really immune to trauma, compassion fatigue and mental health problems — not even doctors,” said Pura Jacobe Gaddi, a local doctor who helped mobilize a 200-strong team of rescue and relief volunteers across the six provinces worst hit.
