1. Psychological First Aid
Kathy Berlin, RN
MRC Coordinator
Elizabeth McClure, MD, MPH
Medical Director
Academic Health Center
Office of Emergency Response
2. Training Objectives
Understand key points of
Psychological First Aid (PFA)
Increase awareness of the signs
and symptoms of stress
Identify strategies to limit distress
and negative health behaviors
Identify strategies to support
resilience among responders
3. Psychological First Aid
Key Points
Parallel to medical first aid
Uses skills you probably already have
Designed for use in the immediate
aftermath of a disaster
Offers practical assistance &
information
4. Psychological First Aid
Key Points
Appropriate for all ages
Culturally informed
Consistent with research
evidence on risk and resilience
following trauma
5. Psychological First Aid:
Who, Where, When?
Who delivers PFA?
– First responder teams, Medical Reserve
Corps (MRC), Community Emergency
Response Teams (CERT) and others
Where is PFA used?
– Family assistance centers, mass triage
facilities , mass dispensing sites, special
needs shelters
When is PFA used?
– As an integral part of the immediate
disaster response
6. Endorsed by……
American Psychological
Association
WHO, CDC, MDH
National Institute for Mental
Health
National Center for PTSD
Metro Disaster Behavioral Health
Work Group
SAMHSA
7.
8.
9. Psychosocial Consequences of Disasters
Fear and Distress
Response
Impact of
Disaster
Event Behavior
Change
Psychiatric
Illness
Source: Butler AS, Panzer AM, Goldfrank LR, Institute of Medicine Committee on
Responding to the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism Board of on Neuroscience
and Behavioral Health. Preparing for the psychological consequences of terrorism:
A public health approach. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2003.
13. Events are More Stressful or
Traumatic When……
Event is unexpected
Many people die, especially
children
Event lasts a long time
The cause is unknown
The event is poignant or
meaningful
Event impacts a large area
14. Minimize negative emotional
impact of a disaster through…..
Rapid intervention
Identification, labeling,
and expression of
emotions
Regaining a sense of
mastery and control
over life
15. PFA Big Picture:
Target Outcomes
Restore Safety
– Safeguard
– Sustain through basic needs
Facilitate Function
– Comfort
– Connect
Empower Action
– Education
– Resilience
16. Psychological First Aid
Help Card
Goal:
– Promote Safety
– Calm and Comfort
– Connectedness
– Self-empowerment
17. Psychological First Aid
Help Card
Responder Resilience
– Prevention Strategies
– Self care
When in Doubt- CONSULT!
18. PROMOTE SAFETY
Meet basic survival needs
Offer practical assistance
and information
Shield survivors from
onlookers/ media
Repeat information as often
as needed
Assist in finding resources
Safeguarding
survivors and
sustaining
their basic
needs
19. CALM AND COMFORT
Compassionate presence
Active listening
Don’t push for information
Use stress management
techniques
Be flexible and supportive
Comfort, console, soothe
Facilitate
psychological
function
through
calming and
connection
20. What People Need
To talk to about their
experience
Someone to care
Someone to really
listen
Someone to lean on
or cry with
21. Active Listening
Body language
eye contact
facial expression
tone of voice
Gentle prompts
Label, summarize, and mirror
Compassionate presence
22. Active Understanding
Try not to interrupt until story
ended
Do ask questions to clarify
Occasionally restate part of the
story in your own words to make
sure you understand
23. Active Understanding
Avoid Why/Why not?
Don’t judge
Avoid “I know how you feel.”
Avoid evaluation of their
experience and their reactions
Silence is O.K.
24. It is NOT OK to say….
Let’s talk about something else
You should work toward getting
over this
You are strong enough to deal with
this
You’ll feel better soon
You did everything you could
You need to relax
It’s good that you are alive
25. Stress reactions are normal
Basic information
on ways of coping
Psychological
reactions are
common and
expected
Simple relaxation
techniques
26. Agitation
Refusal to follow directions
Loss of control, becoming
verbally agitated
Becoming threatening
It is not personal
This is their reaction to an
UNCOMMON situation, it has
nothing to do with you
27. When to Refer
Harm to self or others
Inability to make simple decisions
Significant withdrawal
Ritualistic behavior
Hallucinations/paranoia
Disorientation to time and place
Unable to care for self
28. How to Refer
Ask about reaction to referral
Make referral with individual
present
Don’t push referral unless person
appears to be at imminent risk to
self or others
Cold referrals are generally not
successful
29. CONNECTEDNESS
Help connect with friends and
loved ones
Keep survivor families intact
Reunite children with family
Connect survivors to available
support services
Facilitate
psychological
function
through
calming and
connection
30. SELF EMPOWERMENT
Clarify Disaster information
Engage towards meeting own
needs
Work toward “normal” life
activities
Guide towards what to expect,
teach resilience
Reestablish
hope and
action through
education and
empowerment
32. Promote Resiliency
Everyone who experiences a
disaster is touched by it
We have the ability to bounce
back after a disaster to a new
normal
Resilience can be fostered
One goal of PFA: support
resilience in ourselves and others
33. Personal Resiliency Plan
Know your unique stressors
and red flags
Know unique stressors of the
event: extent of damage, death,
and current suffering
Monitor on-going internal
stress
Emotional pain and anxiety are
contagious
35. Building Responder Resilience
Pre-event
Educate and train
Build social support systems
Instill sense of mission &
purpose
Create family communications
plan
Learn coping strategies
36. Building Responder Resilience
During event
If possible, use the buddy system
Focus on immediate tasks at hand
Monitor health, safety, and
psychological well-being
Know your limits
Activate family communications
plan
37. 37
There is a cost to caring. We professionals
who are paid to listen to the stories of fear,
pain, and suffering of others may feel,
ourselves, similar fear, pain and suffering
because we care.
Compassion fatigue is the emotional
residue of exposure to working with the
suffering, particularly those suffering from
the consequences of traumatic events.
Charles R. Figley, Ph.D.
Compassion Fatigue
38. Building Responder Resilience
Post-event
Delayed reactions seen among
general public and emergency
responders
Monitor health and well-being
Take time to recover
Seek support when needed
39. Expect a reintegration period
upon returning to your usual
routine.
Pay attention to cues from your
family that you are becoming
too involved.
Self Care
Post-event
41. Q: Effective communication during
times of trauma may include
repeating information often.
Q: Which of the following describes
possible symptoms of stress in
children?
a. Fear of being alone
b. Difficulty sleeping
c. Sense of guilt or responsibility for event
d. Regression
e. All of the above
42. Q: Physical symptoms of stress, such as
elevated heart rate & breathing can
sometimes improve with calm,
soothing verbal intervention.
Q: Children may feel more secure in a
structured environment (such as
school) after a traumatic event.
43. Q: During a traumatic event, it is helpful to
provide immediate psychotherapy.
Q: During the crisis response, it is important
to do which of the following?
a. Work in partners or teams
b. Take brief stress breaks
c. Check in with others
d. Talk about your feelings at the end of the day
e. All of the above
44. Q: There is an adjustment period after
returning from a crisis.
True or False
45. Learn More
• On-line Courses:
– “Psychological Issues Following a Disaster”, U of M Center for
Public Health Preparedness
• http://cpheo.sph.edu (I ½ hours)
– Mental Health Consequences of Disasters”,
Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness
• http://nccphp.sph.unc.edu/training (I hour)
• Other Resources
– DEEP PREP “All Hazards Disaster Behavioral Health Training”
– SAMHSA Website
• http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/Publications_browse.a
sp?ID=181&Topic=Disaster%2fTrauma
– American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Website
• http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/_scripts/redirect.asp?ID=775