What is Psychological First Aid?

Psychological intervention during emergencies offers resources for dealing with crisis situations.

When emergency psychologists carry out an intervention, whether in mass emergencies or in everyday emergencies, we must take into account the wide variety of reactions to a crisis situation.whether in mass emergencies or in everyday emergencies, we must take into account the wide variety of reactions and feelings that we can find in each patient.

This will depend on one hand on the nature and severity of the events, and on the other hand on personal characteristics of the affected person such as previous experiences, perceived social support, physical and mental health history, culture and age. Psychological First Aid takes all these elements into account..

Psychological intervention in emergencies

In these first moments of tension that we encounter when we arrive at the scene of the incident, we are not going to carry out a multi-method assessment as we would do in a consultation. Our source of evaluation will therefore be the observation we make of the overall situation and the verbalizations of both the patient and the patient's own and the verbalizations of the patient himself as well as those of witnesses or other members of the security forces.

The same applies to the intervention as to the assessment. In most cases we will be with them for hours, but we will not see them again, and normally the protocol of choice in emergencies will be Psychological First Aid (PAP).

Psychological First Aid

Let's focus on Psychological First Aid (PFA). It is evidence-based techniques designed to help all types of populations affected by a critical incident.They are applied in the first hours after the impact. After the first 72 hours they are no longer the technique of choice.

With their application we seek to reduce the level of stress and promote adaptation and coping in the short, medium and long term.

Before applying Psychological First Aid, we will get to know the environment in which we are going to work, what has happened and what is going to happen. In addition we will establish communication with the rest of the emergency personnel to coordinate in a better way.

On arrival at the scene, we identify who needs assistance. Whenever possible, we try to regroup the families to work with them; it is very common that spontaneous groups arise among those affected, we also work with them in groups.

Finally, once again, it is important to emphasize that we have to adapt to the diversity of the population. adapt to the diversity of the population we are going to work with. Normally they will be from very different cultures and therefore we will have to adapt our intervention to this.

The phases of Psychological First Aid

The application of PAP is divided into eight phases. Below we will see what to do and what not to do in each of them.

1. Contact and presentation

The presentation to the affected person should be done in a non-intrusive way, explaining who we are and what we do. We should not overwhelm the affected person, we stay close but without being intrusive. At this moment the other person is in a state of alert, so we must not leave room for uncertainty, as this can be a source of fear.

A good approach is the key for the correct and effective application of the PAPs, as it sets the tone for the whole relationship that will follow this phase.

2. Relief and protection

Those affected should know that we are there to cover their basic needs, that we are there so that they do not have to worry about not to worry about anything elseFrom promoting water and food to a cell phone charger or a phone to help with family reunification. That way they can gradually relax and stop fearing the uncertainty of the present.

3. Emotional support

In many cases those affected by an emergency are in a state of shock are often in a state of shock, disoriented and disoriented and disoriented.. Our work as emergency psychologists will be to guide them in space and time in a non-aggressive manner, adapting to the patient's reality.

4. Gathering information

The way in which we interact with the affected person is very important, we must do it in a way that they do not feel uncomfortable, so we can access as much information as possible to provide the most effective help.

To do so, we must speak slowly, exploring all the needs and clarifying the information. We must also prioritize the priorities of attention and attend to them according to the available resources.. We should not give trivial advice, nor should we trivialize the needs based on our opinions.

5. Practical assistance

First of all, we should anticipate useful practical information of which the victims may not yet be aware, such as the location of toilets, regrouping points, refreshment points, etc.

In response to the questions of those affected, this information will help to reduce their anxiety and to satisfy their needs. we fulfill the objective of satisfying their basic needs.. Thus, anxiety ceases to accumulate, since we offer attention to the most fundamental.

6. Connection with the social support network

It is of utmost importance to help those affected to reconnect with their support network. Either by providing them with a telephone number to contact or, if they do not have one, by contacting the security forces to request their help in this task.

Until there is no one accompanying that person, preferably from their support network, we will not leave.

7. Coping Guidelines

The most important task will be to normalize symptoms, many affected people believe that in addition to what has happened to them they are going "crazy", we must remove this idea by informing them of the basic stress reactions to be expected in the coming hours and days.

They are trained in basic relaxation techniques, being diaphragmatic breathing the technique of choice, so we will be able to reduce their level of physiological activity and give them a tool for coping with possible future symptoms.

On the contrary, we should not say that he must now be strong or brave; the only thing we do with that statement is not to let the affected person experience his own coping resources.

8. Connection with external services

At the closing of the intervention, as we have done at the beginning, we should explain that we are leaving and that we are not going to be able to help the person, we should explain that we are leaving and what will be the procedure from that moment on. from that moment on.

We will not leave the affected person alone, we will leave when the victim's social support network arrives or, failing that, our relief. We must also give the affected person guidelines on when and who to ask for help, connecting them with the public health network.

Concluding

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize the everyday usefulness of PAPs and the need for their training for the entire population. After all, don't we all know first aid techniques such as CPR or the Heimlich maneuver?

Let's take care not only of the physical, but also of the mental aspect..