Given the good acceptance of our previous article Learn Psychological First Aid with this practical guide, we provide in this new tool that will allow us to know something more about the actions of psychological intervention that are usually carried out in emergency situations .

It must be taken into account that although these are crisis situations very much associated with stress, the characteristics of the situation mean that this kind of work is carried out in a different way from what happens in normal psychotherapy in the consulting room.

Psychological intervention in emergencies

Before talking about the basic principles of psychological intervention in emergencies , it is necessary to establish the most probable contexts where these intervention guidelines can be implemented. In general, these are the following:

  • Natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, etc.
  • Technological disasters, such as those with chemical, nuclear, etc. causes
  • Terrorist action.
  • Traffic accidents with several victims.
  • Destability or psychic crisis.
  • Conflicts of War.

Principles of psychological care in disasters and emergencies

The basic principles of intervention in these contexts are

1. Protect

It is about making the people affected feel safe and secure. To this end, the areas of:

  • Physical shelters, housing or refuge for victims and relatives , meeting centres, etc. Also areas for participants to be able to rest, exchange opinions and coordinate.
  • Similarly, it is necessary to establish points for the media especially in emergencies of a certain magnitude.

2. Directing

Direct through the necessary instructions of tasks to be done by the affected person . We remind you that in the impact phase the victim may suffer alterations in the capacity to process information, so our help in this sense becomes fundamental.

3. Connect with the victim

To do this, it is necessary to make use of resources that facilitate regaining contact with family and acquaintances , places that provide information including administrative ones, etc.

4. Intervene

As we mentioned in the previous article, we must:

  • Guarantee basic needs to the victims , such as: water, food, blankets, etc.
  • Facilitate personal space.
  • Facilitate personal contact through conversation, active listening, empathy, etc.
  • Helping to reunite with family and friends .
  • Facilitate mourning if there has been personal loss by facilitating the expression of emotion.
  • Help control stress reactions.

Strategies used in the care of victims

Generally speaking, the intervention includes different strategies that are useful in these contexts , such as

  • Social and family support.
  • Relaxation techniques, being deep and diaphragmatic breathing the most used in these cases.
  • Strategies to change thoughts, emphasizing guilt.
  • Behavior change strategies , such as distraction.
  • Possibility to refer to a specialist for a more specific intervention.

Grief management

One of the most frequent and painful interventions for victims is coping with the loss of a loved one (or several) when the emergency situation produces it.

In this sense, and once the impact phase is over, it is usual to intervene in mourning when there have been deaths . This intervention is carried out on both affected persons and family members.

We can say that grief is a normal emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one. It is a process that must be correctly elaborated in order to avoid future problems.
In this sense, William Wordem (1997) describes perfectly in his practical book Grief treatment: psychological counselling and therapy, the tasks that the person must carry out to overcome and correctly elaborate on grief . These tasks are four and must follow the following order although sometimes task I and II are given together:

  • Task I. Accept the reality of the loss , that is, the person assumes with pain and even with some feeling of “unreality” that the death has occurred, there is no going back
  • Task II. Express the emotion and pain of the loss .
  • Task III. Adapt to an environment in which the person who has died is absent
  • Task IV. Continue to live.

The complicated duel

All these tasks are usually carried out over the following months after death , in a gradual and progressive manner. Even normal periods are understood to be those that reach two years.

On the other hand, failure to overcome all these tasks can lead to a complicated or unresolved duel. In these cases, the person remains “anchored” in one of these phases for a long period of time (years even).
The following manifestations are to be expected:

  • Sadness.
  • Anger.
  • Fatigue.
  • Impotence.
  • Shock.
  • I yearn.
  • Relief.
  • Guilt and reproach.
  • Anxiety.
  • **Solitude. **
  • Insensitivity.
  • Physical sensations, such as: emptiness in the stomach, tightness in the chest, tightness in the throat, etc. *

The difference between a normal and pathological grief reaction will be the time factor. Thus, not being able to think about the deceased a few days, weeks or a few months after death will be normal. It will not be normal to feel this happening ten years after the death.

To learn more about the subject, you can consult the distance learning course on psychological first aid that Formación Psicológica organizes from its website.

Bibliographic references:

  • Wordem, W. “The Treatment of Grief: Psychological Counseling and Therapy”. 1997. Editorial paidós.