WHO and Partners Develop Psychological First Aid Guide for Relief Workers

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Humanitarian emergencies such as earthquakes of the magnitude that killed thousands and fractured the livelihoods of millions of Haitians or the Tsunami that affected East Asia a couple of years ago do not only impact on the physical well-being of the affected people but also cause such immense trauma to the psychological well-being that there is a great need to handle them with some dose of Psychological first aid along side other humanitarian needs.

 A consortium of World bodies that handle humanitarian relief in times of natural disasters or war situation namely, the World Health Organization, the World Vision International and the War Trauma Foundation have come up with an elaborate Psychological First Aid Guide for their field workers.

 The logic behind the psychological first aid stems from the need to reduce the intense trauma people suffer in times of conflicts or natural disasters. Normally , the resultant trauma on the the minds of the affected people is just as bad as the physical damage caused by the disaster or war factors.

 The guide has been developed in such a manner that standards and best practices are consistently applied in humanitarian settings. Psychological guides have been designed to cover both social and psychological support  with emphasis on humane  and practical help to the trauma affected people or those faced with serious crisis events.

 The guide which can easily be taught to the humanitarian workers in one day is a very user friendly Psychological first aid tool kit which will certainly improve humanitarian interventions during responses to natural and man made disasters around the world.