Psychological first aid to support healthcare professionals

Abstract

Psychological first aid (PFA) may be considered a form of acute psychological crisis intervention designed to foster human resilience. PFA has been universally endorsed as an important addition to the corpus of mental health-related support services in the wake of disasters. As support grows for its utilization beyond disasters alone, consideration should be given to the application of PFA to high-risk occupational setting. While PFA has begun to be used in the emergency services, it would also seem to be well suited for fostering resilience in healthcare settings where burnout and vicarious traumatization may approach the prevalence of silent epidemics. This paper describes PFA and argues for its utilization as a non-stigmatizing approach to foster the resilience of healthcare professionals and in doing so avoiding the “second victim” phenomenon.