Natural disasters, together with the structural destructions in the geography where they occur, can cause severe psychological damage and shake people's lives deeply. The first processes that occur after a disaster are services for saving people's lives, providing treatment processes if there is any physical injury, and creating shelters where they can survive. With the completion of these services, studies are carried out for psychological first aid. At this stage, psychological first aid is the work done to reduce the damage caused by the disaster. Like medical first aid, psychological first aid is the psychological support given at the scene of an acute trauma to people.
Psychological First Aid After an Earthquake
It is not a method of treatment. It is a quick approach to support earthquake survivors. Professional help may be needed after this intervention. In the psychological first aid process; It acts on needs that create reassurance, calming, feeling connected with someone and creating a sense of self-efficacy. Before these processes, the basic needs of earthquake victims such as shelter and nutrition must be met, otherwise the aid will have no effect. It is an important condition that the place is safe. The space provided by this place should allow earthquake survivors to express their experiences and feelings. Reminding that the reactions given during this process are normal and being in communication will support the person to reconnect with his/her environment.
Eight-Step Psychological First Aid Model
1.Relationship and Bonding In this section It is the stage where communication between the person providing psychological help and the affected person begins. Introducing the person providing assistance would be a functional first step. Afterwards, it is important to ask the affected person's needs and meet some basic needs before proceeding to the psychological first aid phase. Psychological first aid practitioners recommend that affected persons stay away from dangerous and risky areas and take precautions such as safe zones. can set. In this context, it can be considered as providing people's need for trust and putting their anxiety into a state of relaxation. Especially in the first 24 hours, symptoms such as multiple reactions, extreme fear, panic, forgetfulness, distraction, startle and alertness, difficulty in logical thinking and decision making, unrealistic perception may require intervention. For this reason, stabilization techniques are used in order to return individuals to a psychologically stable state and to help maintain a state of calm and balance. One of the important applications used for stabilization is grounding, directing the attention to the outside world and thus balancing the emotions. The application guidelines of a sample grounding application recommended by Brymer et al. (2006) for adults are presented below.
1. Sit in a comfortable position with your hands and feet free.
2. Start breathing slowly and deeply.
3. Look around and name five objects that do not cause you any discomfort or stress.
4.Slow and slow. Keep breathing deeply.
5. Now listen to the sounds you hear around you and tell me what five sounds do not cause you any discomfort or stress.
6. Slowly and keep breathing deeply.
7. And now try to pay attention to your bodily sensations and how you are feeling and say what the five sensations are that do not cause you any discomfort or stress.
8. Breathe slowly and deeply.
4. Obtaining Information This stage is important in terms of determining the psychosocial support services to be given in the psychological first aid process and planning the interventions. The stage of obtaining information is carried out by methods such as observations and needs analysis forms made by the psychological first aid provider. How to meet urgent needs It would be appropriate to make a plan about what can happen. When it comes to individuals who have observed extraneous events, this stage will help relieve their anxiety and re-establish a sense of trust and control. Since the psychological first aid provider acts as a bridge in this position, it is important to have information about other field teams and institutions in order to be able to provide correct guidance.
6.Social Support Social support is shown as an important factor in the recovery process after trauma. Individuals who can use social support mechanisms can return to their daily lives faster and cope better with traumatic stress. At this stage, psychological first aid practitioners can engage in activities (sharing meetings, hobby groups, activity groups) that will activate social support mechanisms. It is an important step in the first aid process. Especially after high-impact events, individuals may experience confusion about what is going on, while shock and confusion continue. Being informed about such matters may be of critical importance in terms of preventing the severity of anxiety.
8.Associating with Other Collaborative Services Since psychological first aid consists of simultaneously progressive stages; multi-faceted psychosocial intervention is necessary at every step from the beginning to the end of the psychological help process, in linking the individual with other people and services. These association activities are important for the harmony of individuals and for the service not to be interrupted when it comes to situations such as job change. Confidentiality is very important in psychological first aid processes. It is the basic responsibilities of all practitioners to keep the information shared by people confidential and to take care of their privacy. In addition, it is very important to avoid making impossible promises, not to force people to tell about their experiences, and not to accept any gifts in return for support. It is important that the practitioner only interferes with processes within their jurisdiction.
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