Psychological First Aid: A review of Save the Children’s PFA initiatives in China

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a practical method for providing initial support to reduce stress for people in crisis situations. In recent years, Save the Children has helped to extend this approach specifically to children, with the aim of supporting their recovery in the aftermath of humanitarian emergencies and other crisis situations.

Save the Children has developed a number of materials and guidance to promote PFA For children within its emergency response programmes, including a recently revised training manual for staff — the Psychological First Aid Training Manual for Child Practitioners, (2013).

The aim of this review is to document lessons learned from Save the Children’s introduction of PFA within emergency response in China. As an early adopter of PFA, Save the Children China’s experience can provide valuable insight into what works and doesn’t work in efforts to reduce children’s immediate distress in the aftermath of humanitarian crisis, and the challenges and opportunities for integrating FPA into emergency response.