United States Department of Veterans Affairs
NATIONAL CENTER for PTSD

Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide

 

Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide

choose section
Psychological First Aid

For Disaster Responders

Developed jointly with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, PFA is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting people in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism: to reduce initial distress, and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning.

It is for use by first responders, incident command systems, primary and emergency health care providers, school crisis response teams, faith-based organizations, disaster relief organizations, Community Emergency Response Teams, Medical Reserve Corps, and the Citizens Corps in diverse settings.

The 5th appendix consists of Handouts for Survivors (PDF).

NOTE: The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader* is needed to download these files. Not having the latest version (8) of this reader may cause error messages that the PDF file is "damaged".

Hardcopies of the PFA Field Operations Guide can be purchased at www.castlepress.net/nctsn* for around $10 each.

The Psychological First Aid Manual Contents

Chapter/ Topic
 Title of Chapters and Topics
Complete Guide
With Appendices		 PFA Manual complete with Appendices (PDF 60MB)
Complete Guide
Without Appendices		 PFA Manual without Appendices (PDF 1.6MB)
Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview
Chapter 2 Preparing to Deliver Psychological First Aid
Chapter 3 Core Actions
- Topic 1 Contact and Engagement
- Topic 2 Safety and Comfort
- Topic 3 Stabilization
- Topic 4 Information Gathering: Current Needs and Concerns
- Topic 5 Practical Assistance
- Topic 6 Connection with Social Supports
- Topic 7 Information on Coping
- Topic 8 Linkage with Collaborative Services
Appendices (5) for Psychological First Aid Manual
1 Overview of PFA (PDF 379k)
2 Service Delivery Sites and Settings (PDF 381k)
3 Psychological First Aid: Provider Care (PDF 900k)
4 Provider Worksheets (PDF 491k)
5 Handouts for Survivors (PDF 2.1MB) Topics included in this Appendix:
- 5 A Connecting with Others: Seeking Social Support (For adults and adolescents)
- 5 B Connecting with Others: Giving Social Support (For adults and adolescents)
- 5 C When Terrible Things Happen (For adults and adolescents)
- 5 D Parent Tips for Helping Infants and Toddlers (For parents/caregivers)
- 5 E Parent Tips for Helping Preschool-Age Children (For parents/caregivers)
- 5 F Parent Tips for Helping School-Age Children (For parents/caregivers)
- 5 G Parent Tips for Helping Adolescents (For parents/caregivers)
- 5 H Tips for Adults (For adult survivors)
- 5 I Basic Relaxation Techniques (For adults, adolescents and children)
- 5 J Alcohol and Drug Use after Disasters (For adults and adolescents)

Available in other languages on the National Child Traumatic Stress Network website: PFA in Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish*

Training on PFA

PFA was created with the Terrorism Disaster Branch of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network as well as others involved in disaster response. Production of this information was supported by SAMHSA.

Date Created: See last Reviewed/Updated Date below.