United States Department of Veterans Affairs
National Center for PTSD

Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide

Providers and Researchers

For Disaster Responders

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 disaster responders including 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. NOTE: Available in Chinese. See below.

NOTE: This guide is ONLY available online and is not available in hard copy. Please make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader* to download these files. Not having the latest version (8) of this reader may cause error messages saying that the PDF file is "damaged".

The Psychological First Aid Manual Contents

Note: The PFA Manual Appendices are available in 5 separate files listed below in PDF format for download. The 5th appendix is one PDF but consists of topics that are appropriate Handouts for Survivors. The topics are listed in the table under the title.


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)

The Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Operations Guide, 2nd Edition was created by the Terrorism Disaster Branch of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD as well as others involved in disaster response. Production of this information was supported by SAMHSA.

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

Also see: SAMHSA Video Presentation about Psychological First Aid by Dr. Patricia Watson, NCPTSD.