Read about APS resources and activities on disaster preparedness and recovery.

 

APS Disaster Response Network (DRN)

The APS Disaster Response Network (DRN) is a national network of psychologists who have a special interest and expertise in working with individuals and communities affected by disasters and emergencies in Australia as well as those working to assist them.

Psychosocial Support in Disasters web portal

This web portal provides health professionals working with disaster-affected individuals and communities with a step-by-step guide to disaster response and the psychological implications at each stage from preparation through to response and recovery.

Tip sheets

APS tip sheets inform clients about a range of psychological issues and how psychologists can help. They are a useful resource for private practitioners and other health professionals, especially GPs. The following tip sheets have been developed to assist individuals and communities affected by natural disasters.

General tipsheets

Bushfire tipsheets

Don't panic: Be prepared

Helpful tips for being psychologically prepared as you get ready for the bushfire season. 

Preparing children for the threat of bushfire: Information for parents and carers

This brochure provides ways of assisting parents and carers to help children manage their fears and to have a greater sense of being in control in threatening bushfire situations.

Cyclone tipsheets

Don't panic: Be prepared

Helpful tips for being psychologically prepared as you get ready for the cyclone season

Preparing children for the threat of cyclone: Information for parents and carers

This brochure provides ways of assisting parents and carers to help children manage their fears and to have a greater sense of being in control in cyclone or warning situations.

Best practice guidelines

Psychological First Aid: An Australian Guide (2011) - APS and ARC joint publication

This guide was produced by the APS and the Australian Red Cross to provide an overview for people working in disaster preparedness, response and recovery about best-practice in psychological first aid following disasters and traumatic events.

3 Tiered Framework for psychosocial support and mental health care following disasters

Following the 2009 Victorian bushfires, a best-practice framework to guide provision of support and mental health care to disaster affected communities was developed by a wide range of government and non-government stakeholders. The framework has three levels of support based on the level of distress experienced, and the timing of the support required following disaster.

APS Ethical Guidelines on co-ordinated disaster response, pro bono, or voluntary psychological services

APS Statement on the Role of Psychologists in International Emergencies

Looking after children who have been affected by bushfires: Guidelines for parents and caregivers

Children are not always able to express complex feelings in the same direct way that adults do and therefore do not often show the same reactions to stress as adults. It is therefore very important to look out for changes in children's behaviour that suggest they are unsettled or distressed.

Guidelines for provision of psychological support to people affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires

This information sheet provides summary guidelines on the three levels of psychological support that can be offered to people affected by disasters such as the Victorian bushfires.

Guidelines for provision of psychological support to people affected by the floods

APS presentations

2013

2011

2009

APS media releases

January 2013

November 2012

October 2011

February 2011

January 2011

October 2010

April 2010

February 2010

December 2009

October 2009

September 2009

March 2009

InPsych articles

2011

Special report: Response and recovery after the floods

2010

2009

Special report - Recovery after trauma: The aftermath of the Victorian bushfires

APS submissions

2013

2012

2011

APS and the Red Cross

APS and the Red Cross

In 2009, the Red Cross and APS signed a Memorandum of Understanding. This MOU formalises a commitment between Red Cross and APS to work collaboratively, and provides a framework for dialogue between the parties to collaborate and develop services for the benefit of the community.

The objectives are:

  • To increase awareness within APS of the activities and the services offered by the Red Cross.
  • To promote APS involvement in the work of the Red Cross.
  • To facilitate the provision of training for Red Cross volunteers by APS members in good evidence-informed best practice ’psychological first aid‘ practices and for those affected by emergencies and disasters.
  • To facilitate the provision of Red Cross Training for APS psychologists in how to work effectively in an emergency situation, so they may become approved Red Cross volunteers.
  • To jointly develop best practice risk communications and messages and quality community education resources for dissemination through the Red Cross and APS, which focus on prevention and psychologically preparing individuals, households, and communities for potential emergencies in order to build resilience, reduce distress, and expedite recovery following an emergency.
  • To facilitate the provision of on-site support by APS psychologists for Red Cross volunteers and staff and community members during emergency operations, and to complement but not replace the Red Cross‘ existing organisational human resource services.

Current Red Cross/APS collaborations

Peer support in Bundaberg

Ten APS Psychologists were activated to work with the Red Cross in Bundaberg to attend to the safety and wellbeing of the Red Cross workers. Psychologists assisted Red Cross staff in dealing with distressed and/or extremely agitated displaced individuals at the evacuation centres, accompanied staff on outreach visits and participated in debriefing sessions. They also offered strategies for dealing with more difficult situations to the disaster management groups, while local psychologists were invaluable in directing staff and individuals to local resources. Local psychologists also linked in with other APS psychologists who travelled to the region through Red Cross deployment creating a small but supportive network of colleagues enabling the sharing of information and opportunity for debriefing.

Independent debriefing

This summer (2013) we have been trialling a project with the Red Cross to help them with their informal debriefings of staff and volunteers after an emergency activation. The Red Cross have asked specifically for our support with people who undertake mission-critical roles (e.g., senior incident leadership roles within their Emergency Operations Centres and field locations). During a large activation, there can be up to 30 or 40 people per week needing this type of independent debriefing from a psychologist (depending, of course, on the size of the deployed workforce).

The main purpose for the independent debriefing is to ensure people‘s wellbeing is checked when they have returned to their normal life after an emergency activation. There are simple call guidelines that debriefers can follow. This independent debriefing is not the same as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, an approach which has been the subject of much debate in recent years.

A total of 88 members of the APS Disaster Response Network did some independent debriefing for Red Cross workers between January and March 2013.

Support Group Training

In February 2013 the APS together with the support of the Red Cross facilitated a Support Group Training Workshop for APS psychologists with experience in running groups as well as experience in disaster recovery and/or traumatic stress. The objective of the workshop was to prepare mental health professionals to run monthly support groups in disaster affected areas (when and if the need arises) in a volunteer capacity. Such training and the possible facilitation of support groups is part of the Red Cross Psychosocial Recovery program. This workshop was presented by Dr Rob Gordon along with Sharon des Landes and Salli Trathen. Twenty-two psychologists in total attended this first workshop and many more expressed a desire to volunteer their time to participate in the initiative and complete this workshop on line.

Other resources and references

Australian Guidelines for the Treatment of Adults with Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health developed these guidelines in consultation with trauma experts from a range of disciplines, as well as people affected by trauma. These guidelines provide practical recommendations applicable in all healthcare settings.

IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC ) issues these guidelines to enable humanitarian actors to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral responses to protect and improve people's mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in the midst of an emergency.

General references

Compiled list of general articles on response and recovery:

  • McNally, R.J., Bryant, R.A., Ehlers, A. (2003). Does early psychological intervention promote recovery from posttraumatic stress? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4, 2, 45-79.
    View article     - Acrobat icon - small