Is there such a thing as a first aid kit for common psychiatic stuff: shock, depression, grief, denial, or whatever is considered a "common" psychiatic condition one can expect to encounter in emergency situations?

Is there a compact first aid oriented booklet for such things?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

not that I've heard of. Which makes sense - most psychiatric care is long term. The normal CISD stuff should help for short term. or just talk with your neighbors and do the amateur talk-therapy.

?CISD?

I am thinking of doing the right thing to get folks past an immediate obstacle, like moving when they are frozen scared or emotionally overwhelmed. Or abandoning a victim to get themselves to safety. Or out of a rage or unreasonable position to allow themselves and others to get on with what must be done.

First responders must run into such difficult stuff where an right-now solution is in order.

Not looking to start long-term talk therapy or treatment.

Common sense and intuition will probably serve you better than any field guide. I find a lot people just need someone to hear what they have to say.

You see it in the movies all the time. "Snap out of it!" followed by a slap in the face. "Thanks, I needed that" . This is just a bit unrealistic.

There is something known as "taking charge of the situation," which is often unremitting chaos when a first responder arrives on the scene. This is generally accomplished by prioritizing actions, giving calm, confident instructions, setting people to work, and getting on with the business at hand. It is a definite plus if you actually know what to do.

From experiance: Most people think that leaving is fleeing, so they baulk. Give then a task, even if it's "securing" the lifeboat. Something that allows them to leave honorably.

Nice reference, NightHiker!

The American Red Cross has a course in Psychological First Aid for its volunteers, focusing on serving clients undergoing stress in disasters. I found it to be a very worthwhile course, and the Red Cross recently made it a required / recommended course for higher level (supervisor) volunteers. Red Cross has a significant disaster health services commitment, and part of that is mental health services.

Folks will lose their homes and possessions, some may lose family and loved ones. There can be depression, sadness, tuning out, anger - you want watch for signs and deal with them as best you can. Any disaster causes disruption, we all deal with that kind of stress differently. And people bring their pre-existing physical and mental health issues to your shelter or service.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.

Basically everyone that was in the incident sits in a circle and talks about what happened, what they did, how they're feeling. It typically meets soon after an incident but can meet more than once. It's more in teh Fire/EMS realm after an incident but it's a good point to start with sorting out emotions.

I took a 2-hour disaster psychology course that DHS offered to CERTs, RACES and others in my area. I thought it was a good course.