4 basic principles for providing psychological support in emergencies

How to act in a situation where someone needs our psychological help?

At any time, whether we are psychologists or not, we can find ourselves in a situation that requires our intervention.. For example, we can find ourselves in a complicated situation in many different situations, such as an accident on the road or an incident on an excursion.

In another article of Psychology and Mind we already talked about the role of psychology in emergencies and disasters, and today we are going to delve into some practical keys to help people in need, regardless of whether we are mental health professionals or not.

Humans are social beings and, especially in the summer season, we move from one place to another in high temperatures and it is more likely to find ourselves in situations where we must attend and help, within our possibilities, another person or family who has suffered an incident.

General principles for giving psychological help

With this purpose and without the intention of going into depth, since the bibliography is extensive, I intend to summarize in four basic principles the keys to provide psychological support to someone who needs it.

Based on my experience in both the social and health fields, which has involved care in emergency and urgent situations or in other cases in contexts of high emotional stress, there are a series of steps that coincide in all the bibliographic references on emergencies that, I believe, are key to provide initial care before the specialized teams arrive. These premises will serve as a guide for you and the people you are assisting, and will facilitate safety, security and safety in the event of an emergency.They will provide safety, emotional ventilation and relief to the people we will be assisting.

These principles will follow the pre-established order, and I will expand with some examples later: the first thing to do is to call the emergency services, they will give us guidelines that will allow us to analyze the situation before approaching and presenting ourselves. Once we are in front of the people we wish to help, we will introduce ourselves and inform them that we have called the emergency services and that specialized help has been notified and is on its way. Finally, we will listen and facilitate emotional expression by staying by their side until help arrives, if we can.

I will detail each of the steps to make it easier to understand what to do in case someone needs our psychological and emotional support.

1. Notify the emergency services

A truism, perhaps, but its importance and the need for it to go in point 1 is totally unquestionable.

Even so, I have been I have been surprised to hear stories of people who "had not thought to call the emergency services".. Fortunately, thanks to social and media awareness, 112 and the rest of emergency operations are the best known and almost everyone rushes to notify the emergency services when an accident happens.

The variety of situations we may encounter is wide: car accidents, floods, fires, elderly people alone and disoriented, or children. We can also witness situations of violence (street violence, partner or family abuse, or others), hear screams or people shouting for help, and a long etcetera.

In these situations, you should always call the emergency services.The professionals who will attend your call are the ones who will assess the seriousness of the situation and which devices to send to the area (ambulance, fire department, police, etc.). Nowadays, everything is centralized and we only have to describe what we see during the call.

2. Analyze the situation and approach with caution.

During the emergency call the operator will have us observe and ask us about the location and type of situation to find out what is happening..

For example, if someone collapses in front of us, we will be asked if they are conscious, breathing, etc. These same questions will guide us about what will happen afterwards, and the operator will give us safety instructions (e.g. if there is an accident she will recommend where to stand to avoid problems) and will inform us of the approximate delay time..

3. Introduce yourself, inform and orient

It is crucial to introduce yourself. Approach the person concerned in a calm manner and tell them our name, who we are and why we are there. For example: "Hello, my name is Maria. I saw your motorcycle on the road and I have called the emergency services". And ask her name, remember that she is a person and introductions humanize us.

At this point informing her of the situation is key, misinformation distresses people who find themselves in a situation of this type. You will only have to tell her what you have been told when you have given the notice and when it will takeTry to use positive language such as "soon" since the victim of the situation will already be very distressed. We can encourage calm with some phrases, such as "I have already warned and the ambulance is already on its way. They also told me that it is better not to move, they will be here soon".

It is important that you control your tone of voice and your nonverbal language; stay in their field of vision, with eye contact when you speak or they speak to you, ask before touching the person if they want you to help them and do not invade their living space if they do not give you permission. Your role is not to replace the health technicians, it is that the person is comfortable and accompanied until then..

Once informed and oriented, we can say something to comfort the injured or troubled person, for example that we will wait with them and take an interest in their condition, which would be phase 4.

4. Listen and facilitate emotional expression

Take an interest in what has happened, facilitate their emotional expression and stimulate their dialogue.. As long as you ask questions and do not interrupt when he/she explains and remain receptive with a state of active listening, it is enough.

You can, if you are comfortable at some point paraphrase/recapitulate to give her feedback that you understood her to situate her and mitigate her distress, using her own terms, for example: "What you are telling me is that you hit that tree from the right side of the bike". Even when the technicians come, paraphrasing will help you remember information to pass on to the professionals.If the person is unconscious or too stunned to speak.

If the person verbalizes or externalizes emotional expressions such as crying and embarrassment, you should support that feeling and facilitate its expression, with phrases such as "it is normal for you to feel this way, you have had an accident, but the ambulance is on its way".

During the wait, remain accessible, applying active listening. If you are receptive, you will even be able to detect and observe non-verbalized needs and facilitate their expression.