As of January 18, 2023, 17 people have died on Catalan roads: 14 men, two women and a 13-year-old girl died in 15 traffic accidents involving cars, vans, motorcycles, scooters or on foot. A number that, according to Servei Català del Trànsit road safety and mobility coordinator Oscar Llatje, is “high but difficult to estimate” in such a short space of time. Beyond the cold numbers, behind each of them lies a broken life and destroyed families. Whenever a fatal accident occurs, emergency services are called in, Mossos traffic agents who notify families of the death, firefighters who extricate the bodies and psychologists from the Emergency Medical System (SEM) who accompany the police in explaining the news. This tragedy creates an emotional impact on her that sometimes requires psychological help.
“It’s random, it depends on the type of vehicle, how many people drive, we can’t make road safety decisions in such a short time, we don’t know the development,” says Llatje. “No number is good, a single death is a tragedy.” Those responsible for reporting a death to the family are the Mossos traffic constables. The first one they communicated in 1998 after taking power was in Pla de l’Estany. Girona’s current traffic manager, Inspector Joan Costa, remembers it as if it were now. This and the more than fifty families who have been notified of a death. “We knew how it was done on paper, but with the first victim we saw that it was different. It’s a very strong emotional blow,” he claims.
Once the victim is identified, they seek out his family, which is not always easy and must be done quickly, since mobile phones and social networks allow them to arrive before the accident, but it creates pressure to inform the family promptly and properly. The sergeant and a rescue psychologist arrive to deliver the “bad news”. “We’re asking if they know the victim, if we can come over and be blunt about the death. The world is collapsing on them, it’s a beastly blow,” explains Costa.
The cases that particularly affect emergency services are accidents involving children. “Not only when they die, but also when their parents die. It breaks the soul,” he states. Costa recalls how they had 37 deaths in one August and how difficult it was “being the bearer of bad news and at the same time being the one to comfort the families”. Sergeants occasionally receive psychological support.
“Sometimes you manage to stay out of it, and sometimes everything gets removed for some reason. Every situation is complicated and different,” explains one of Girona’s shift supervisors. For him, “one of the most difficult moments is when you know details about the victim, like a father waiting for him to catch a plane because the family would be living abroad.” Another dramatic moment, they agree , is “when the deceased’s cell phone receives calls or messages from relatives”. “Everyone has their system to take the pressure off. Nobody is enthusiastic about this work, there are no volunteers,” he assures. I would like “that the phrase that costs so much not have to be repeated: ‘Are they the relatives of …?’
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Firefighters’ Medical Emergency Group (GEM) psychologist Anna Subirà explains that in traumatic emergency situations for firefighters, such as B. in case of multiple accidents or difficult extrication, the protocol is activated and the psychologists go to the park. They are performances that, when they affect you, create a great emotional charge and shape you. “If it’s not managed well, they can have post-traumatic stress, be blocked in another accident, and be unable to function,” he says. The psychological intervention aims to “ensure that any stress reaction has no consequences”. He warns, “Empathy is necessary to provide good help, but it’s a double-edged sword because you risk bringing the victim home.” In some cases it has already happened to them, Terrassa firefighters emphasize, “when you see how the accident happened and it could have been avoided.”
For Andrés Oliveros, SEM psychologist, “reporting a death is a situation with a high emotional impact” but “it is a task for which families are very grateful to us”. They try to reduce their sense of vulnerability and increase their autonomy. You are with them between three and six hours.
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