In what was supposed to be an eye-opening adventure to NASA for a class of high-achieving students has since turned into an experience that will likely have lifelong ramifications, an expert has said.
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More than 30 people, including 27 female students, from Loreto College Ballarat were seriously injured on Wednesday morning in a school bus crash near Bacchus Marsh.
Ballarat Psychology Clinic provisional psychologist Margaret Hunt said the incident would have immense impacts for those involved and their families.
"They've experienced a traumatic event that's really going to impact how they feel about themselves and how they feel about the world," Ms Hunt said.
"They'd be having a trauma response right now."
However, she said the horrors of Wednesday's collision would have flow-on effects into the wider community.
"The other thing is vicarious trauma. Being apart of the school community, I don't think you need to be directly in the accident to feel the effects of this," Ms Hunt said.
"It's an awful story. It's traumatic, you know, kids at the school are going to know kids that were on the bus and they're going to have feelings about that."
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As for support services available for those needing assistance during such a period of shock, Ms Hunt suggested Headspace and Kids Helpline for younger demographics.
"Headspace has some really good resources on their website especially for people this age, for young people and families," she said.
"There's also Kids Helpline which is great for immediate psychological first aid - if that's what they need."
However, she also emphasised the importance for students to reach out to the services offered by their school.
"I'd also recommend just talking to the school community," Ms Hunt said.
"I think Loreto in particular, they're a school that really values looking after their students' mental wellbeing, so I think leaning on those supports is really important."
For those not directly impacted by the accident but who were still wanting to offer support, Ms Hunt said her best advice was for everyone to "be there and listen".
"The best support they can offer is just to be there and to listen and to let the people that are affected really feel what they are feeling and really validate that," she said.
"Whatever response that they have that's OK, that they can cry, that they might feel angry, they might feel really sad - all of those things are normal trauma responses.
"So be there as a support. Just be there to lean on them and take the lead from them."
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Call Headspace on 1800 650 890, Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636
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Malvika Hemanth
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
