---
title: "Psych News Alert: Mobile App Helps Post-Disaster Mental Health Responders"
description: The next time disaster strikes, mental health and other response workers may find help in delivering psychological first aid (PFA) as near a...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DisasterResponse_16794976-Jun-24-2025-04-28-01-7084-PM.jpg
---

 9/12/12 12:00 AM

# Mobile App Helps Post-Disaster Mental Health Responders

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

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The next time disaster strikes, mental health and other response workers may find help in delivering psychological first aid (PFA) as near as their smartphones. “PFA is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting people in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism: to reduce initial distress and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning,” says the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD, a codeveloper of the app along with the Department of Defense’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Responders should learn PFA before a disaster occurs, say the developers. “This app is a supplement to other resources [that] trained individuals utilize before, during, and after a disaster response.” A rmed with that knowledge, users can then read summaries of PFA actions; match interventions to specific stress reactions of survivors; evaluate survivors’ needs and track them to simplify data collection and referrals; and use self-assessments to judge their own readiness to conduct PFA. The PFA mobile app is available for Apple iPhone users; an Android version will appear in 2013.

To learn more about key factors in preparing for the mental health aftermath of disasters, see *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1212623).

(Image: Frontpage/Shutterstock.com)

[PTSD](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ptsd), [telemedicine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/telemedicine), [disaster psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/disaster-psychiatry), [trauma](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/trauma), [telepsychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/telepsychiatry), [psychological first aid](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychological-first-aid)

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