Psychological first aid teaching and training for healthcare professionals

Its importance in the COVID-19 context

Abstract

There is no doubt that the current COVID-19 Pandemic has led to reflection, among other things, on the obvious shortcomings of the health system, including the gaps detected during undergraduate and postgraduate training. One of these points to be strengthened includes the teaching of psychological first aid as a humanitarian support technique for people in crisis situations. As has been verified in the context of the SARS-COV2 pandemic, there is a high psychosocial and emotional component that must be addressed by the professional who has the first contact with the affected person. The importance of including psychological first aid in health training, lies then in that they can be executed by all personnel who attend to said emergency, and not necessarily and exclusively by a psychologist.