4 Basic Principles To Provide Psychological Support In Emergencies

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

In another article of Psychology and Mind We have 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 who need it, regardless of whether we are mental health professionals or not.

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

General principles for providing psychological help

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

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 tension, there is a series of steps that coincide in all the bibliographical references on emergencies that , I consider, are key to providing initial care before specialized teams arrive. These premises will serve as a guide for you and the people you serve.and will provide security, emotional ventilation and relief to the people we will care for.

These principles will follow the pre-established order, and I will expand with some examples after the fact: the first thing will be to give the notice by calling emergencies, they will give us guidelines that will allow us to analyze the situation before approaching and introducing ourselves. Once we are in front of the people we want to help, we will introduce ourselves and inform them that we have called emergencies and that specialized help has been notified and is on the way. Finally, we will listen and facilitate emotional expression by staying by your side until help arrives, if it is within our means.

I am going to detail each of the steps so that it is easier to understand what we should do in case someone needs our psychological and emotional support.

1. Give notice to emergencies

An obvious one, perhaps, but its importance and the need for it to be included in point 1 is totally unquestionable.

Even so, I have been surprised to hear stories from people who “had not given in” to calling emergencies.. Fortunately, thanks to social and media awareness, the 112 telephone number and the rest of the emergency operations are the best known and almost everyone rushes to notify the emergency services when an accident happens.

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

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

2. Analyze the situation and approach it with caution

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

For example, if someone faints in front of us, we will be asked if they are conscious, if they are breathing, etc. These same questions will guide us about what will happen afterwards, and the operator herself will give us safety instructions (for example, 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 guide

It is crucial to introduce ourselves. Calmly approach the affected person and tell them our name, who we are and why we are there. For example: “Hello, my name is María. “I saw your motorcycle on the road and I called the emergency services.” And ask her name, remember that she is a person and introductions humanize us.

At this point, informing people about the situation is key; misinformation distresses people who find themselves in a situation of this type. You will only have to tell them what they have transferred to you when you have given the notice and when it will taketrying to influence positive language using terms like “soon” given that the person who is the victim of the situation will already be very distressed. We can encourage calm with some phrases, such as “I already warned and the ambulance is on its way. They also told me that you better not move, they will arrive soon.”

It is important that you control your tone of voice and your non-verbal language; Stay in their field of vision, with eye contact when you speak or talk 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 health technicians, It is about making sure the person is comfortable and accompanied until then..

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

4. Listen and facilitate emotional expression

Be interested in what has happened, facilitate their emotional expression and stimulate their dialogue. Just asking and not interrupting when someone explains and staying receptive with a state of active listening 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 motorcycle.” Even when the technicians come, paraphrasing will help you remember information to transmit to professionalsif the person is unconscious or too dazed to speak.

If they verbalize or externalize emotional expressions such as crying and feeling ashamed, 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 the way.”

While waiting, stay accessible, applying active listening. If you are receptive, you will even be able to detect and observe needs that are not verbalized and facilitate their expression.