Features of the Organization and Provision of Emergency Psychological Assistance in Various Emergency Situations on the Territory of the Russian Federation

Abstract

Emergency situations, due to the suddenness of occurrence and catastrophic consequences, have an extremely high degree of danger to the mental health of people. The authors are of the opinion that effectively implemented measures to provide emergency psychological assistance to victims in emergency situations in an acute period contribute to the preservation of human mental health and are an important component of the ability to return to normal life after experiencing tragic events.
 This article analyzes the experience of the specialists of the psychological service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in eliminating the consequences of six large-scale emergencies that occurred in the period from 2009 to 2019 in the territory of the Russian Federation. Based on the examples of liquidation of the consequences of specific large-scale emergencies, the basic principles of organizing the activities of the psychological service of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia are considered, the directions of work and tasks faced by specialists when working in emergency situations, as well as the technologies of organizing work to provide emergency psychological assistance to victims, used by specialists of the psychological service of the Ministry of Emergencies Russia. General approaches to the provision of emergency psychological assistance to victims and relatives of those killed and injured are outlined, two groups of objective parameters that have a direct impact on the organization of the work of specialists and how the specifics of the situation and the region can affect the planning and implementation of measures to provide emergency psychological assistance are described. The authors describe the groups of objective characteristics inherent in a particular emergency situation and determine the importance of taking them into account when planning, organizing and implementing emergency psychological assistance measures.