Psychosocial First Aid: Support for the Child Survivors of the Asian Tsunami

We developed and implemented an assessment and intervention program that can be used as psychosocial first aid for children caught up in a humanitarian emergency. We developed training modules for professionals in this aspect of disaster relief. We based this in regional institutions, so that the program would have wide implementation across the country. Because this disaster was not anticipated, we were fortunate to have a group of previously trained individuals who were able to implement the knowledge and skills required to do workforce training. We would have liked to have used more rigorous program assessment activities, but there was no time to do so. More communities and countries need to do more disaster preparation that includes psychosocial first aid for children. It is important that multiple modalities of psychosocial assistance be used and available to strengthen families, to restore livelihoods, and to revitalize communities in the aftermath of a disaster. The use of the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale proved useful, and we recommend its development as a tool for testing the effectiveness of psychosocial first aid.