What is “psychological first aid”? How do mental health experts like you work side by side with traditional first responders? The goal of psychological first aid is to sooth, assist and help people function and cope in a healthy way in the wake of a traumatic event. It’s employed in the hours and days following the event, when people’s immediate needs, including medical care, as well as basic needs like food, shelter and water, must be met, along with their psychological and physical safety needs

Dahl, Heather

Lefforge, Noelle

Nixon, John A.

Paul, Michelle

English

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Repository

Psychology Faculty Publications Psychology 10-1-2018 We Provided Psychological First Aid After the Las Vegas Shooting – Here’s What We Learned. Michelle Paul University of Nevada, Las Vegas, michelle.paul@unlv.edu Heather Dahl University of Nevada, Las Vegas, heather.dahl@unlv.edu John A. Nixon University of Nevada, Las Vegas, john.nixon@unlv.edu Noelle Lefforge University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noelle.lefforge@unlv.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/psychology_fac_articles  Part of the Community Psychology Commons, and the Emergency and Disaster Management Commons Repository Citation Paul, M., Dahl, H., Nixon, J. A., Lefforge, N. (2018). We Provided Psychological First Aid After the Las Vegas Shooting – Here’s What We Learned.. The Conversation https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/psychology_fac_articles/385 This Magazine is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Magazine in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself.  This Magazine has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@unlv.edu. 10/15/2019 We provided psychological first aid after the Las Vegas shooting – here's what we learnedhttps://theconversation.com/we-provided-psychological-first-aid-after-the-las-vegas-shooting-heres-what-we-learned-104098 1/4AuthorsMichelle PaulAssociate Faculty-in-Residence inPsychology, University of Nevada, LasVegasHeather DahlAssistant Professor, Dept. of CounselorEducation, School Psychology, and HumanServices, University of Nevada, Las VegasJohn A. NixonAcademic rigor, journalistic flairEditors’ note: In the aftermath of the Oct. 1, 2017 shooting massacre that claimedthe lives of 58 people, several psychology and counseling scholars at the Universityof Nevada, Las Vegas sprang into action to offer trauma counseling to victims andwitnesses of the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history. The UNLV scholarshelped provide aid and comfort to hundreds of evacuees, mostly noninjured, whowere driven by bus from the strip to the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center soon afterthe shooting. The Conversation recently connected with those scholars to hear whatthey learned from the experience.What is “psychological first aid”? How do mental health experts like youwork side by side with traditional first responders?The goal of psychological first aid is to sooth, assist and help people function andcope in a healthy way in the wake of a traumatic event.It’s employed in the hours and days following the event, when people’s immediateneeds, including medical care, as well as basic needs like food, shelter and water,must be met, along with their psychological and physical safety needs.Evacuees arrive at the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center after a gunman opened fire Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas. Al Powers/APWe provided psychological first aid after the Las Vegasshooting – here’s what we learnedOctober 1, 2018 6.37am EDT10/15/2019 We provided psychological first aid after the Las Vegas shooting – here's what we learnedhttps://theconversation.com/we-provided-psychological-first-aid-after-the-las-vegas-shooting-heres-what-we-learned-104098 2/4Assistant Professor-in-Residence ofCounselor Education and AssistantDirector of Clinical Services, ThePRACTICE, University of Nevada, LasVegasNoelle LefforgeAssistant Professor-in-Residence inPsychology and Assistant Director ofClinical Services and Research at ThePRACTICE, University of Nevada, LasVegasThe point is not to push people to express emotion or describe in detail what theyexperienced. Rather, mental health professionals can help first responders byoffering survivors practical assistance, comfort, safety, good compassionate companyand emotional support.For example, in the hours following the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas,nonwounded victims and evacuees from the Strip needed basic things: blankets tocut the chill of the evening hours and psychological shock, cellphone chargers so theycould stay in touch with loved ones, rides home and reliable news updates to reducechaos and control rumors. By helping provide these simple needs, our team of mentalhealth professionals was able to free up first responders and law enforcement to dotheir jobs.What tools and treatments can mental health clinicians offer in the wake of this kind ofalmost unimaginable tragedy?In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, people needed to know how this stressful event wouldaffect them. For example, potential effects may have included trouble sleeping, increased nervousnessor feeling easily upset or agitated.People also needed guidance to pursue healthy coping strategies. They needed to know where to findsupport services then and in the future, as well as information regarding the signs that someone mightneed a higher level of professional care. Such signs include persistent anxiety.Police run toward the scene of the Oct. 1, 2017 shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Stripin Las Vegas. John Locher/AP10/15/2019 We provided psychological first aid after the Las Vegas shooting – here's what we learnedhttps://theconversation.com/we-provided-psychological-first-aid-after-the-las-vegas-shooting-heres-what-we-learned-104098 3/4Psychology Gun violence Mass shootings Massacres Counseling US gun control US gun violencePost trauma Las Vegas shooting 2017 First responders trauma psychologyUnfortunately, we heard from victims who were initially given ill-informed treatment by poorlytrained providers. Some were “debriefed” in a group setting for hours, encouraged to share theirstories and describe the trauma in detail. As psychology and counseling researchers, we know this outdated treatment approach is harmful and can retraumatize people who are already vulnerable andhypersensitive.In the days, weeks and months after an event like this shooting, people are often hyperaroused – thatis, in a ramped-up jittery state – and hypervigilant – that is, overly aware and reactive to everything intheir environment. They’re expecting danger and feeling unsafe, fearful, angry or distressed. Othersmay keep thinking about the traumatic event. Memories of the event can intrude on their day. Theymay have difficulty sleeping because the memories keep running through their mind. Or they mayhave nightmares. Others may experience emotional numbing or avoidance.We helped victims build resilience skills such as problem-solving and engaging in positive activities,like spending quality time with loved ones and participating in activities that they enjoy. We educatedpeople on how to manage emotional and physical reactions through things such as breathing exercisesor identifying and planning for triggers. Mental health professionals also promote helpful thinkingand identify opportunities for establishing a sense of community and belonging. Perhaps moreimportantly, professionals trained in psychological first aid are prepared to identify and assist thosewho won’t recover on their own.When the skills-building approach isn’t enough, mental health professionals know how to identifythose who will need a higher level of care.What did you learn in the heat of disaster response that’s applicable now a year laterand on into the future in terms of mental health?Different people need different things. Some of the people we worked with following the Oct. 1shooting needed to talk. Some needed to sit quietly. Some needed to get busy and find something todo to feel helpful. Some needed to take a day to themselves. There are typical human stress responsesto an abnormal event, but there is no one prescribed journey toward healing.We also know that people are naturally wired to need a sense of belonging and human connection.And, in this sense, personal and community healing go hand in hand. One cannot exist without theother.You mightalso likeMemories of trauma are unique because of how brains and bodies respond to threat10/15/2019 We provided psychological first aid after the Las Vegas shooting – here's what we learnedhttps://theconversation.com/we-provided-psychological-first-aid-after-the-las-vegas-shooting-heres-what-we-learned-104098 4/45 things to know about mass shootings in AmericaWhy ‘thoughts and prayers’ after mass shootings fall shortFive things you didn’t know about psychopaths

We Provided Psychological First Aid After the Las Vegas Shooting – Here’s What We Learned.

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We Provided Psychological First Aid After the Las Vegas Shooting – Here’s What We Learned.

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