Major Emergencies of whatever nature (transport accident, flooding, storm or fire) create a wide range of psychological and social challenges at individual, family, and community levels. Major Emergencies create acute short term impacts but also have the potential to undermine the long-term mental health and psychosocial well-being of affected populations. A significant priority in the psychosocial response to a Major Emergency is to support and promote the resilience and resourcefulness of individuals and communities in a manner that helps to lessen the impact of the event. The Health Service has primary responsibility for the provision of psychosocial care to members of the public affected by Major Emergencies. This document provides information on the psychosocial impact of these events and describes a management system and model of service delivery for planning and delivering effective responses to the psychosocial and mental health needs of individuals and communities after Major Emergencies.

This Guidance Document is intended to assist local Health Service areas in preparing effective responses to the psychosocial and mental health consequences for individuals and communities following Major Emergencies. It identifies the pathways which the individuals who are affected are likely to follow and how their needs can be met through Primary Care and professional partnerships. It is supported by the current evidence based theory and practice. This guidance should enable local planning for psychosocial response to be integrated into existing services within a common national strategy. The guidance also has applicability for those planning for and responding to significant traumatic events and critical incidents which have a large-scale impact but which do not involve the declaration of a Major Emergency. It is recognised that this is an arena of ongoing significant research attention and that current thinking and practice may well be superseded by future developments. Therefore this Guidance Document should be seen as an evolving one that will need adaptation in the light of future new perspectives. This Guidance Document is informed and heavily influenced by international sources of expertise that reflect the insights of practitioners from different disciplines and sectors and an emerging consensus on good practice.