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The Mount St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980 with subsequent ash fall, flooding, and potential long-term threat created a unique chance to study the behavioral responses to disaster. Many factors contributed to this scientific opportunity. This was a disaster of significant proportion with potentially serious consequences to life, health, and property, especially in Cowlitz County, Washington, immediately to the west of Mount St. Helens. While a major volcanic eruption is uncommon in the continental U.S., the periodic or persistent threat of flooding became the greatest concern from this event, giving this disaster generic characteristics similar to many others. Since Mount St. Helens and other northwest volcanoes lie in close proximity to major population centers, there was considerable interest in the scientific community to record and study the health effects associated with the eruption. With the funding of the research consortium for the study of Biological Effects of Volcanic Ash, there was an opportunity to investigate the mental health consequences of the Mount St. Helens eruption on a community-wide basis. This article reviews the theoretical model and methodology for this psychiatric disaster study and presents preliminary findings.

This article focuses on the physical health effects of exposures to ash from Mount St. Helens. Two approaches to evaluating the effects of volcanic ash on the eyes were carried out by researchers. The first of these was a survey of ophthalmologists in the ashfall area of four northwestern states in the U.S., asking for information about the types and frequency of adverse ocular effects attributed to volcanic ash. The second was a comparison of ocular findings between a group of loggers exposed to high concentrations of volcanic ash and a control group of loggers in an ash-free environment. The ophthalmologists reported seeing 1,523 patients with complaints or findings which were considered to be related to the volcanic ash. In the opinion of the ophthalmologists, the majority of the ocular problems were anxiety reactions or foreign body sensation. Approximately half of the patients had developed an irritative conjunctivitis, presumably due to exposure to volcanic ash, but fewer than 20 per cent experienced conjunctival or corneal foreign bodies which required removal. In none of the patients seen was there a major secondary infection in the eyes or significant decrease in vision.