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.
