Which statement best describes an indirect victim?

• A. May be a family member or friend of the victim or a first responder
• B. The immediate victim
• C. Must evacuate their home
• D. Group of people who have fled their homes

Answer: (A)

An indirect victim is someone who is affected by a traumatic event without being physically harmed themselves, usually through their relationship to the person harmed or by witnessing the aftermath through others. Family members or friends of the victim, or a first responder who encounters the scene, can fit this description. They may experience emotional distress, secondary trauma, or ongoing worry even though they weren’t injured directly. This differs from the immediate victim, who is the person directly harmed, and from evacuees—people who have to leave their homes due to danger—as those terms describe displacement, not the indirect impact on those connected to the event.