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Israel Finds that Immediate Intervention Can Reduce PTSD
(Jerusalem Post) Daniel K. Eisenbud - Avi Steinherz, clinical director of United Hatzalah's Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit, said Tuesday: "Statistics-wise, what we have found from 15 to 20 years of experience...is that the majority of the general population has a resilience to traumatic events, and most people exposed to them do get better on their own. However, there is 20% of the population that enters into what is called 'acute stress reaction (ASR)' in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, and...almost 80% will develop PTSD, which is a condition which they...can suffer from for the rest of their lives." "But the amazing thing we found...is that if the 20% of the population who enters ASR receives immediate stabilization, 75% of those people will not develop PTSD. So, time is of the essence." Today, over 600 specialists, ranging from psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and EMTs, volunteer in the unit throughout the country as psychological first-responders.