MIQ a mental health mission

Hundreds of military personnel working at managed isolation and quarantine facilities have reported being exposed to traumatic incidents which required psychological checks.

The proportion of staff requiring wellbeing checks from specialists after deployment to the isolation hotels, 15 per cent, is on par with Defence Force military deployments to war zones, or natural disasters at home.

During the Auckland August coronavirus cluster, the Government announced 500 more Defence personnel would be sent to managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities.

The move was meant to bolster security and credibility at the nation’s network of isolation hotels after scandals involving civilian security guards, including falling asleep on the job.

Soldiers serve as security and are now a regular sight patrolling the perimeter of the hotel facilities.

Defence personnel working on Operation Protect were asked to complete a questionnaire about their wellbeing, and another relating to their exposure to ‘‘critical incidents’’.

Out of 1718 returned questionnaires, 268 personnel (16 per cent) indicated they had been exposed to ‘‘challenging situations while on task’’, according to a written response supplied by headquarters chief of staff Air Commodore AJ Woods under the Official Information Act.

‘‘This was comprised of 246 (14.3 per cent) who indicated exposure to something that required a check in by NZDF Psychology and 22 (1.3 per cent) who asked for an NZDF psychologist to contact them to discuss their response or the experience,’’ Woods said.

Just over 10 per cent (179 personnel) met Defence’s threshold for support on the general wellbeing questionnaire.

Woods said the figure was similar to the average for military operation debriefs, where 15 per cent of deployed personnel require additional follow-up.

A copy of one of the questionnaires, obtained by Stuff under the Official Information Act, shows Defence personnel were asked if they’d experienced a range of critical incidents during their timing serving in MIQs.

The personnel were asked if they’d experienced guests becoming argumentative or verbally abusive, or police call-outs they felt could have escalated.