title: Perceptions of psychological first aid among providers responding to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
abstract: Psychological First Aid (PFA), developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, has been widely disseminated both nationally and internationally, and adopted and used by a number of disaster response organizations and agencies after major catastrophic events across the United States. This study represents a first examination of the perceptions of providers who utilized PFA in response to a disaster. Study participants included 50 individuals who utilized PFA in their response to Hurricane Gustav or Ike. Findings indicated that participation in PFA training was perceived to increase confidence in working with adults and children. PFA was not seen as harmful to survivors, and was perceived as an appropriate intervention for responding in the aftermath of hurricanes.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress,University of California-Los Angeles, CA, USA. BJA009@shsu.edu
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Melissa J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Brymer
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Vernberg
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Anthony H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Speier
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Pynoos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000193:education; D003479:Curriculum; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D003625:Data Collection; D004190:Disasters; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008145:Louisiana; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011361:Professional Competence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D013781:Texas; D016896:Treatment Outcome