2015-06-23 I&S Agenda - Item 5 - Local Disaster Recovery Plan - Attachment 2

                            Noosa Local Disaster Recovery Plan 2015/2016




                   Figure 10 – The multi-layered aspects of the community
                                (AEMI Community Recovery – Handbook 2)

23.10 Psychological first aid
Psychological first aid is a key component of psychosocial support and provides a set of
skills to underpin the effective provision of psychosocial support services. It is an evidence-
informed approach based on commonsense principles of support to promote normal
recovery and includes helping people to feel safe, connected to others, calm and hopeful
and facilitating access to physical, emotional and social support; and enabling people to be
able to help themselves.

The goals of psychological first aid are to:
   reduce distress
   assist with current needs
   promote adaptive functioning
   get people through periods of high arousal and uncertainty
   set people up to be able to naturally recover from an event
   assist early screening for people needing further or specialised help
   reduce subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder
Community leaders and other key members of the community can be trained in the
principles and delivery of psychological first aid to ensure that an appropriate response is
immediately available within the community and to allow community members to work
alongside emergency support workers to manage community needs. Under the current
Queensland State Disaster Management Plan, Lifeline Community Care Queensland is a
key agency involved in the community recovery process and has been delegated the lead
agency in the provision of psychological first aid following a disaster event.

For anyone seeking to work as a Community Recovery Officer, Lifeline Community Care
Queensland offers a nationally recognised qualification in psychological first aid.



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