Over the past week we have watched first with disbelief then horror and grief as the full extent of the fires that have swept across the country have become known. So when an evening talk show host announced that they had decided to postpone their usual program to discuss the bushfires I sat down to watch. The host explained that they had invited four people into the audience to describe their experiences and a panel to answer questions. It was with growing unease that I watched him request they describe ‘what had happened to them’ barely five days later. One guest, an older woman initially appeared silenced by his question and then embarked on a long and discursive description of her day leading up to the fires and the relevance and importance of all she had lost. This was not what the host had in mind as he interrupted and directed her narrative in an effort to tailor it to television. The program moved on to the experts debating policy, who was to blame and whether we were altruistic enough to support those in need. All the while the four guests sat, as if immobilized in their seats. It didn’t feel right and my ease did not dissipate with time. Instead it lead me to the Australian Psychological Societies website to seek advice.

I was struck by the comment “It is not useful, and may even be harmful, to directly encourage a disaster survivor to ventilate their responses in the initial phase. If a person has a desire to discuss their experiences, it is useful to provide them with support to do this but in a way that does not encourage disclosure beyond the level that they wish to discuss.” What I had observed was exactly in opposition to this.

 Instead the recommendation is to provide psychological first aid (Adapted from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2007). Psychological first aid: A guide for emergency and disaster response workers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.samhsa.gov/) The key elements as described on the APS website are to:
Promote safety

· Help people meet basic needs for food and shelter, and obtain emergency medical attention.

Provide repeated, simple and accurate information on how to get these basic needs.

Promote calm

· Listen to people who wish to share their stories and emotions, and remember that there is no right or wrong way to feel.
· Be friendly and compassionate even if people are being difficult.
· Offer accurate information about the disaster or trauma and the relief efforts underway to help victims understand the situation.
Promote connectedness

· Help people contact friends and loved ones.
· Keep families together. Keep children with parents or other close relatives whenever possible.
Promote self-efficacy

· Engage people in meeting their own needs.
Promote help

· Find out the types and locations of government and non-government services and direct people to those services that are available.
· When they express fear or worry, remind people (if you know) that more help and services are on the way.
 This makes sense where the talk show did not. I can only hope the guest’s television appearance has not magnified their trauma.