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I’ve written about post-disaster psychological first aid (PFA) several times in the past, including in Post Disaster Stress & Suicide Rates, PTSD Awareness Day, and Promising Practices: Psychological First Aid.
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can often occur in the wake of a disaster or traumatic experience. Symptoms may include anxiety, depression, suicide and PTSD may even lead to drug and alcohol-related disorders.
Victims of personal violence, rescue and medical workers, victims of disasters, terrorism, physical or psychological trauma, and/or a combat zone are all at risk of suffering some level of PTSD.
PFA training – which can usually be completed in a day – teaches the lay person how to provide emotional support to those who have recently experienced, or are currently going through, an emotionally traumatic experience.
Friday, August 19th, is World Humanitarian Day and to coincide with that day the World Health Organization, in conjunction with The War Trauma Foundation (WTF) and World Vision International (WVI) have released a PFA guide for field workers in low and middle income countries.
Follow the links below to read the WHO article, and access the field guide.
Providing psychological first aid in emergencies
16 August 2011 -- Humanitarian emergencies - such as earthquakes, drought, or war - not only affect people’s physical health but also their psychological and social health and well-being. For World Humanitarian Day, celebrated on 19 August, WHO and partners are publishing Psychological First Aid Guide for Fieldworkers. These guidelines explain how to provide basic support to people in the immediate aftermath of extremely stressful events.
(Continue . . . )
Related links
As I’ve written before, the CDC also provides a website which contains a number of resources devoted to coping with disasters.
Coping With a Disaster or Traumatic Event
Trauma and Disaster Mental Health Resources
The effects of a disaster, terrorist attack, or other public health emergency can be long-lasting, and the resulting trauma can reverberate even with those not directly affected by the disaster. This page provides general strategies for promoting mental health and resilience. These strategies were developed by various organizations based on experiences in prior disasters.
As does the National Center For PTSD - including videos - on how to provide Psychological First Aid.
Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide
For Disaster Responders
Developed jointly with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, PFA is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting people in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism: to reduce initial distress, and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning.
