Applications of Psychological First Aid in Disaster and Emergency Situations: Its Relationship with Decision-Making

Abstract

Many people in the world are highly vulnerable to being affected by events of great vitalimpact. A disaster, which is known as an unexpected and brutal event, causes great socialdisorganization and significant psychological disorders. The protocol on PsychologicalFirst Aid (PFA) establishes certain actions to take on victims who are in the area of theevent. Through these actions, the victims are assisted in a non-invasive protocol and theyare helped to feel calm but not passive. The study of the processes of decision-making is atopic of great interest for the advancement of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience.Regarding the implementation of PFA in disaster situations, the type of decision-making,analytic or intuitive, could represent an important factor for the effectiveness of theactions of aid provided by volunteers. Thus, the evaluation and decision-making trainingwould be taken as a key factor. In this sense, intuitive or emotional decisions are moreeffective than analytical ones according to cultural experts who have studied similarsituations. This paper presents results and conclusions regarding the associations betweenthe implementation of PFA and the types of decisions made by the volunteers in asimulated disaster. To do so, the use of software, which stages a transport accident,provides the necessary instructions to the users through a set of four videos to be chosen.