In this video we will explain where

and how is psychological first aid applied. Psychological first aid can be
applied in different contexts, in many fields, mostly depending
on if we are talking on massive emergencies or
daily emergencies. In massive emergencies we will
find out that affected people can be either in
aid centers as in regrouping centers,
sports centers, they might even be in the place
where the emergency happened. Instead, in the daily emergency,
the environment will be our daily environment, in our
house, in an hospital, in a clinic, depends on
where the emergency happened we will need to apply
the first aid in that moment. However it is always important
to find a quiet environment, an environment as comfortable
as possible in which we can feel as relaxed
as we can, in which no one will interrupt us, an
environment which is comfortable for the person to which we are applying
this psychological first aid. What do we have to do, which are the tasks we have to
do before applying
psychological first aid? First of all we must
get some information and coordinate with the
people around us. In massive emergencies we will get
info such as who are working in the place, where the primary assistance
are, where the supplies are, where are the different resources,
and also we will try to know which is the work planning of the
participants in the place. We will get information the same
way on who is managing it all so that we can introduce ourselves
to the one who is controlling everything in aim to coordinate our
action with the other participants'. If they are daily emergencies, probably
we will already have the information but it is important that we can collect
more information on which resources or what is going to happen in the
future hours regarding the emergency. And coordinate with the rest of the
relatives, doctors, people who will play an important role
inside this daily emergency. The next we must
do to get ready is thinking on how will
our participation be. Usually in massive
emergencies people tends to
make groups. Although we are saying that
psychological first aid are applied personally,
one by one, we can take profit of these situations
to apply group psychological first aid, in example a family in
a moment of emergency, families tend to group. Let's use this situation and adapt
this psychological first aid to the group context, or sometimes there
are groups generated spontaneously in the sports centers
or the refuge centers, people who know each other or who were
traveling in the same coach group. We could also make a group
intervention with these groups, adapting it a bit. At a daily emergency level it
can happen that we must give psychological first aid to our immediate
familiar environment and that we must apply them to our
parents or our couple, in this case we would adapt
the group context a bit. Something we must also take
into account is that we must have a great focus,
remember our state, our actions can affect and influence
that person in front of us, depending on our reaction that person
will take it as a thermometer, as a measure of how serious
is the situation. If we keep calm every moment,
clear mind, and we have our objectives very clear as well as how
we have to act, it will give that person tranquility and somehow
that person will be certain that he is in good hands
and that we know what we're doing, and that there's something
stable inside the chaos. We must also be very
careful when adapting to different environments
and cultures. In daily emergencies maybe we will
have to give an explanation of why certain persons do
determined things and in massive emergencies we
must adapt to the culture, the religion of the people to which
we are applying psychological first aid, not taking
thinks for granted and be very careful with the
other people's beliefs and their behaviors and we must
also pay attention to any person with any disability, either
physical, sensorial or intellectual, it is important that in those cases we act
adapting to their capacities. What do we have to do
to properly apply psychological first aid? There are some stages we are now
going to explain with details. First of all we must introduce ourselves, establish
a first contact, get us
closer to the affected people. It mustn't be an intrusive
approach, we also have to be aware of if someone
is receptive, usually in these moments any help is gladly taken
but we might find someone who doesn't want to be with an
stranger and we must respect it. In daily emergencies
it changes a bit, in the sense that we won't be
strangers to our relatives, but still we should respect the fact
that someone wants to be alone, that in these first moments he
doesn't want to be with anyone. Anyway let's say that we see that this person is
perceptive
and is ready so that we can approach or sit
down with him or her. The first thing we must do is introducing
ourselves, saying our name, what are we doing there and
why have we approached. About this last point, we aren't going to say
"I have come because I'm going to apply psychological first aid to you",
but we can tell him or her that what we are going to try is
granting that these first moments are properly managed, that
we are going to help him or her to manage these first moments
which are always complicated. Once we have sat down, we
have had a first contact, we ask for his name,
how did he get there, and the setting of these
psychological first aid. Next, we will grant
this person some safety and relief as we can tell him where are the
first-aid posts, we can grant his immediate physical
safety, make him feel calm, keep him warm, make sure his
basic necessities are covered, make sure that if, for example, he's
a kid, take him to his family. If it's a daily emergency
we will try to be in a calm place, keep
the person warm, if it's a relative maybe they will
like some physical contact, give them a hug, lay
a hand on their leg. Then we will go to the stabilization, we don't always need to
apply this
stage because there isn't always an emotional show that needs to be stabilized, so
this
stage is only made if necessary. To do so, we will try to talk to that person so
that we can
offer him a glass of water, the simple fact of giving them a
glass of water, a bowl of soup, tell them to walk a bit,
are easy tasks that make emotions and feelings
readjust a bit so that we can keep talking to this
person more slowly. And the next thing we will do
is picking up information on what this person needs and which
are his or her immediate worries, what does he need, in example,
where will he sleep tonight, which are his worries, when will he see
this person again, or what will happen to the victim's belongings if he
or she has died in an accident. In example, if we are with kids,
usually when we tell them about a death they ask us: "He
will be cold there, won't he?" And that's the thing that worries
this kid; in this stage we must gather these needs and
worries as information, and then give them practical assistance. Practical means
solving the
immediate things and making plans on which will
the next steps be. At a massive emergency level, they would
be solving the identification, solving the communications with their relatives,
solving where will they spend the night. At a daily emergency level,
things as simple as where will we eat, will kids
go to school tomorrow, those things we
can help with, Of saying, let's solve
what we can solve now as it is practical and
we can manage it. When we are already in the stage
of ending psychological first aid it is very important
to make three things: leaving them connected with
the social supports they might have, such as family,
friends, acquaintances. If it's a daily emergency,
communicating it to the extensive family we call
our social network, make sure they know and that in a determined
moment we can resort to them. After giving some information on how to face a
critical situation,
we must give some tools on how to manage
the first days, we can give some guidelines
on hygiene, diet, on how the symptoms will
predictably evolve the next hours,
days, weeks. And finally leave them connected
to the participant services, to the medical assistance
service in case it doesn't improve, in case things aren't
solved we must leave them connected, give them a primary assistance phone number,
give them the phone of
the police agents. In example, if it's a car crash,
where will they be able to pick up their loved ones' personal belongings, which is
the procedure depending
on the kind of accident, how all the forensic
bureaucracy works, as well as the legal and medico-legal,
when will we be able to see our beloved one, when will we be able to pick
him up, all these informations, leave them all connected and also connect
them with the public health network, if there is one, and if there isn't, give them
the connection with the analogous, Red Cross, public health or the resources
each country has.