Required ResourcesArticles American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct: Including 2010 amendments (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from h
The Effectiveness of Psychological First Aiders as an Intervention for Disaster
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Psy 699
University
04/10/2021
The Effectiveness of Psychological First Aiders as an Intervention for Disaster
If someone has survived a traumatic experience, especially from a disaster like a cyclone, there is a dare need for a mental check with a view of him or her. Psychological first aid can be an evidence-informed method of providing psychological support to individuals or families immediately after a traumatic experience or emergency. This kind of first aid should include actions taken to relieve post-traumatic stress distress. These actions are essential in ensuring the best adaptive functioning that helps cope with the experiences' results. Therefore, First aid providers in the disaster-struck area must have professional mental health training to handle people who had traumatic experiences during the disaster correctly.
Having these respondents is upon the bodies that offer first aids or first assistance to the survivors. The used approaches should be flexible, modular, multifaceted, and site adaptive (NCBI, 2018). This would help the respondents use the most suitable and sustainable methods to help the disaster survivors. The study should be themed on the measures aimed at protecting life and property and coping with social disruptions that the disaster has caused. They should have a comprehensive knowledge of the situation assessment methods, crisis communication, and coordination and response management (NAP, 2006). These training pieces should also be based on the parallel advisory on the effects on the individuals, households’ organizations, communities, and even the intergovernmental systems.
Mental health specialists' importance extends from avoiding post-traumatic distress to community reconstruction. People who have survived disasters may begin to develop negative cognitions and moods focused on blames, estrangements, and memories of the traumatic event (Kar et al., 2012). These individuals also begin avoiding others and quickly get angry. With these kinds of behaviors, no good community can be formed and hence a regression of the social system. Mental health specialists will help prevent or reduce this distress immediately after the disaster and help reconstruct the community.
The use of mental specialists in disaster-struck areas has been on the rise following their military and other emergency response areas. For instance, the military's paramedics are trained medics, and they are always present during the occurrence of accidents and other situations (NCBI, 2018). This military model is based on proximity, recovery expectancy, timely response, and simplicity. This same approach is supposed to be given to disaster-struck individuals. This is because it is critical to make people feel safe and help decrease their anxiety just after disasters. These people should be provided with information, welfare, and humanitarian needs whenever they request it. Those in pain should also be given pain relievers, and those with injuries should be treated for structure shock (Fox et al., 2012). A first aid provider will best serve these situations with good mental health training.
The implications of mental health specialists as the first aid provider are that it has seen well-planned and actively integrated components of all disasters managed and provide a broader scope of healthcare responses. It has also influenced the researchers' attention when getting the survivors' stories and thus ensuring that the community is reconstructed as soon as possible. Policymakers worldwide have also been influenced to study mental health psychologists' impact on disaster management. Hence, according to my perspective, mental health specialists in disaster-struck areas are vital in ensuring the proper healing of the individuals and the community.
References
Fox, J. H., Burkle, F. M., Bass, J., Pia, F. A., Epstein, J. L., & Markenson, D. (2012). The effectiveness of psychological first aid as a disaster intervention tool: research analysis of peer-reviewed literature from 1990-2010. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 6(3), 247-252.
Kar, N., Chavan, B. S., Nitin, G., Priti, A., Ajeet, S., & Sushrut, J. (2012). Disaster management:
mental health perspective. Community Mental Health in India Editors: Chavan BS, Gupta N, Arun P, Sidana A, Jadhav S. New Delhi: Jaypee, 257-66.
NAP. (2006). 4 research on disaster response and recovery | Facing hazards and disasters:
Understanding human dimensions | The National Academies Press. The National Academies Press. https://www.nap.edu/read/11671/chapter/6#125
NCBI. (2018, November). Sustainability of psychological first aid training for the disaster
response workforce. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6236715/
