Emotional First Aid

Emotional First Aid: A set of life skills used by lay citizens and emergency responders to provide the support a person who is emotionally shocked needs immediately following a crisis event.

How to Help the Emotionally Injured After Tragedy Strikes

Reach Out Physically

• Position yourself at the survivors side and at his level.
• Touch - unless the survivor pulls away
• Use a soft voice
• Use the survivor's name

Reach Out Emotionally

• Ask the survivor how he is feeling
• Acknowledge the survivor's experience
• Don't minimize the survivor's experience (i.e. "You'll be O.K.")

Don't Overlook the Quiet Survivors

• Many survivors after a tragic event are stunned and may appear unaffected.  Remember that many people can be affected by a tragic event - witnesses, rescuers, children....Don't overlook these invisible survivors.
• When you suspect someone is affected by a tragic event, reach out with Caring Curiosity - How are you?

Protect: Protect the survivor from making impulsive decisions. Most major decisions can wait until the survivor is thinking clearly

• Protect the survivors from being victimized by others who may not have the best interest of the survivor in mind.
• Provide for the survivor's physical needs-food, medicine, safe place...

Reassure: Many survivors have an urgent need for information after a tragic event - "What happened?"; "Why?" Assist the survivor in getting the information he needs. The survivor may need an Information Advocate.

• Survivor often blame themselves for the crisis event. Help a guilty survivor gain perspective by asking him to tell you the "whole story."
• Try to gently point out to the survivor what he did right before, during, or after the tragic event.

Organize: Survivors are often paralyzed after a tragic event and often lose their capacity to deal with all the new demands created by the tragedy. Assist the victim in developing a simple plan. Suggest - Let's focus on what needs to be done now."

Reinforce: the actions which the survivor is taking or wants to take to emotionally survive the tragic event. The survivor will struggle to find something or someone to hold onto in the first few hours. You may need to "clear the way" so that what the survivor wants to do he is able to do.

• Do not "over care" or do too much for the survivor. Remember that the primary psychological challenge for the survivor is to regain a sense of control. Therefore, the survivor should be encouraged to make decisions and take action in his own behalf.
• Finally, a broken heart cannot "be fixed." Don't try! A caring presence is what you can offer to someone who is emotionally devastated. Just being there is very powerful and will be experienced by the survivor as very helpful.

Summary: In the first few hours after a tragic event, the survivor is often surrounded by people who have "a job to do" or who have opinions about what the survivor should or shouldn't do. The primary goal of the person providing Emotional First Aid is to enable the survivor to act according to his wishes, values, and beliefs and not according to what others think should be done.

• Do not "over care" or do too much for the survivor. Remember that the primary psychological challenge for the survivor is to regain a sense of control. Therefore, the survivor should be encouraged to make decisions and take action in his own behalf.
• Finally, a broken heart cannot "be fixed." Don't try! A caring presence is what you can offer to someone who is emotionally devastated. Just being there is very powerful and will be experienced by the survivor as very helpful.

Emotional First Aid Training

What is the TIP National Emotional First Aid Course? An 8-hour course which teaches the skills necessary to help others in the first few hours following a tragedy. Topics presented in the course include:

• The 5 basic Emotional First Aid skills
• What family members need most immediately after a death
• What to say/not to say
• The Big Mistakes
• Street Smarts - How to function effectively in emergency situations

The TIP National EmotionalFirst Aid Course is based on the lessons learned by TIP volunteers in 1,000's of tragic situations. Who Should Attend?

• Caring Citizens
• Health Care Professionals
• Law Enforcement Officers
• Firefighters/Paramedics
• Volunteers
• Mental Health Professionals