Learn Psychological First Aid With This Practical Guide
The approach to first aid in the healthcare field has a long history and evolution in recent times. Not so with psychological first aid, a more recent term that is increasingly used as the importance that a situation with a certain emotional impact can have for the person is recognized.
Any person can be affected (as a victim or witness) by a natural disaster, accident or terrorist act of a certain magnitude. This is why it is essential to have at least some minimal guidelines for action, the ideal being to include these contents in the educational context or, failing that, to carry out specific training in order to have effective intervention tools.
There are several phases of a traumatic crisis: impact, reaction and post-event However, in this article we will focus on the first phase, perhaps the most relevant within psychological first aid because it is the first. It has the following characteristics:
Intervention with the affected person
Communication of bad news
This is an important task within psychological first aid and although the information will harm the person who receives it, the good or bad performance of the intervener in this communication can minimize or maximize the psychological impact of the person who receives it.
You must know that there are factors that will determine the degree of impact of the bad news, such as the personality of the recipient, the existence of previous losses, the relationship with the victim or the predictability or unpredictability of the bad news.
On the other hand, it is relevant to distinguish three phases within this communication in the action protocol:
1. Before starting the conversation
The issuer or intervener must have all the necessary information about what happened, at what time and place, person or persons affected, etc.
It is vitally important to have the identity of the victim or deceased persons confirmed.
Adequate physical spaces must be available that have the necessary instruments and elements (water, tissues, etc.).
2. During the information
Whenever possible, the information should be given only once to the family, in order to avoid giving it several times, something that increases the impact.
The intervening person introduces himself and asks the family member if he knows the reason why he has been called.
The message should be short, avoiding excessive length, understandable and delicate, explaining what happened, the people affected and their condition. Giving false hopes or incorrect information will always be avoided.
From this moment, different reactions will appear: crying, disbelief, silences, screams…) that must be allowed.
If information is not requested and there is more than one family member, the person giving the news withdraws and allows family expression, remaining in the background although attentive.
3. After breaking the bad news
Family members should not be left alone, but should leave.
Show empathy for reactions and cover basic needs.
Offer other sources of support.
Finally, analyze how the situation has affected the person involved.
Final tips
As we see, It is essential to have action protocols in the event of normally unforeseen events that, due to their consequences, entail emotional pain in victims and families.
As we alluded to at the beginning of the article, given the importance of both professionals and people not linked to the health field (any of us can witness an event of this type) have tools for action in this field, training in this area is necessary. .
If you want to go deeper, do not hesitate to consult the distance course on psychological first aid that Formación Psicológica organizes on its website.
