Disaster Readiness: Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR)

Given the rapid rise in mass shootings and disasters in highly populated areas, a derth of information has been communicated about preparedness for triage and handling victims’ psychological needs.

We will summarize trauma recovery context and review the field guides for PFA and SPR in interactive and didactic format. The audience will see links to take further training to help build surge capacity in their communities.

Learning Objectives

  1. Whole person care means understanding how to take care of individuals who have recently been traumatized.

  2. Participant will define Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Skills for Psychological Recovery. (SPR)

  3. Participant will know where to take course on PFA and SPR. 4. Participant will understand the harm caused by debriefing inappropirately

 After completing an undergraduate OMM fellowship, Dr Pohlod graduated from Pediatrics Residency in 2006.  He went to work at MSUCOM in general pediatrics for 8 years and then joined the OMM department in late 2014.  He now practices OMM and integrative medicine for children and adolescents and teaches first- and second-year medical students.  With a background in patient safety, he completed the 40-hour Medical Leadership Course at the MSU’s Broad Business College and completed nearly 30 hours of Health IT leadership courses while serving as an Associate Chief Medical Information Officer for 6 years.  On top of seeing patients, his main interests include childhood adversity and resilience science, qualitative interview analysis in the realm of OMM effectiveness, and developing and advancing modern Osteopathic principles and practices.