Psychological First Aid for Disaster Survivors

Based on your opinion, your experiences, and what you have learned so far in the course:

• To what extent is a survivor of a natural disaster (e.g. tornado or mudslide) more or less likely to develop PTSD than someone surviving a human-made disaster (e.g. terrorism, mass transit disaster)?

Now applying your readings for the remainder of the week, let’s talk about the concept of psychological first aid.

• In what ways might the application of psychological first aid differ for survivors of a natural versus a human-made disaster? Consider the perspectives of survivors or the first responders.
• What are the pros and cons of non-professionals providing psychological first aid to survivors?