Roadmap for the protection of disaster research participants: Findings from the world trade center evacuation study

Introduction: This report addresses the development, implementation, and evaluation of a protocol designed to protect participants from inadvertent emotional harm or further emotional trauma due to their participation in the World Trade Center Evacuation (WTCE) Study research project. This project was designed to identify the individual, organizational, and structural (environmental) factors associated with evacuation from the World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 on 11 September 2001.Methods: Following published recommended practices for protecting potentially vulnerable disaster research participants, protective strategies and quality assurance processes were implemented and evaluated, including an assessment of the impact of participation on study subjects enrolled in the qualitative phase of the WTCE Study.Results: The implementation of a protocol designed to protect disaster study participants from further emotional trauma was feasible and effective in minimizing risk and monitoring for psychological injury associated with study participation. Conclusions: Details about this successful strategy provide a roadmap that can be applied in other post-disaster research investigations.