Providing psychological first aid after a disaster
Bernie McCarthy MAPS, a clinical psychologist and chief executive officer of McCarthy Psychology Services Pty Ltd, which provides training services to aged care facilities has adapted Psychological first aid: A guide for emergency and disaster response workers from Washington, DC, US Department of Health and Human Services www.samhsa.gov) to assist in understanding and providing psychological first aid after a disaster.
Promote safety
- Help people meet basic needs for food and shelter, and obtain emergency medical attention
- Provide repeated, simple and accurate information on how to get these basic needs
Promote calm
- Listen to people who wish to share their stories and emotions, and remember that there is no right or wrong way to feel.
- Be friendly and compassionate even if people are being difficult.
- Offer accurate information about the disaster or trauma and the relief efforts underway to help victims understand the situation.
Promote connectedness
- Help people contact friends and loved ones.
- Keep families together. Keep children with parents or other close relatives whenever possible.
Promote self-efficacy
- Engage people in meeting their own needs.
Promote help
- Find out the types and locations of government and non-government services and direct people to those services that are available.
- When they express fear or worry, remind people (if you know) that more help and services are on the way.
What not to do
It is not useful, and may even be harmful, to directly encourage a disaster survivor to ventilate their responses in the initial phase. If a person has a desire to discuss their experiences, it is useful to provide them with support to do this but in a way that does not encourage disclosure beyond the level that they wish to discuss.
Post-disaster settings are NOT clinical environments, and it is inappropriate to conduct a clinical or psychological assessment within the acute setting. It is important to limit contact at this point to simple support, as outlined by Psychological First Aid. People who display marked signs of risk (eg suicidal) should be referred for formal mental health services.
