After a natural disaster the news media will often say things like, “residents of this small town are in shock this morning after a tornado ripped through this neighborhood in the middle of the night.” As you know ‘shock’ is a physiological problem related to inadequate perfusion. What the media is calling shock is the mental stress of witnessing and/or surviving a stressful event.
We know that there are likely to be many more people that have suffered mental anguish from a disaster than actual physical injuries. In this Every Day EMS Tips column for EMS1.com I share resources for readers about Psychological First Aid and how to learn more.
