Psychotrauma
The Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit addresses the emotional needs of family members, witnesses and bystanders during and after traumatic situations. Watch this extraordinary piece about the critical work of United Hatzalah’s Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit on October 7th from the Israeli investigative TV show Uvda on Channel 12.
Mission Statement
The Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit enhances the lifesaving efforts of United Hatzalah by addressing the emotional needs of family members, witnesses and bystanders during and after traumatic situations.
The unit provides emotional support and stabilization for any civilian who needs it across the country. It also supports United Hatzalah medics who have been exposed to traumatic calls. The unit trains mental health professionals who volunteer alongside United Hatzalah medics in the field.
New video presentation about United Hatzalah responding to psychotrauma in the aftermath of October 7th:
Emotional injuries, just like physical injuries, cannot be left untreated.
United Hatzalah of Israel’s Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit is taking EMS care to the next level
About Us
The Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit (PCRU) enhances the lifesaving efforts of United Hatzalah’s EMS core service by providing psychological first aid (PFA). Specially trained and qualified psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists and social workers join volunteer medics at the scenes of emotionally and psychologically traumatic medical emergencies. By providing this specialized level of care, for the victims and witnesses of the medical emergency, the PCRU hopes to limit the emotional and psychological trauma and try to prevent the onset of acute stress reactions.
What We Do
The unit arrives at the scene within minutes to provide emotional stabilization treatment, enabling the victim to cope emotionally with the situation in real time. Once there, our responders identify the traumatized victims and witnesses, and provide clinically tested emotional stabilization treatment as needed. They also engage family members and bystanders to provide information about where to turn to for community support or further psychological assistance. They also make sure that the patient or patients have a support network in place prior to leaving the scene.
All of United Hatzalah’s 8,600 volunteers learn basic psychological first aid in (Six C’s Model), so they can identify a person in need of stabilization. The volunteers then notify dispatch if the situation requires advanced level responders and begin initial treatment while advanced level responders are on route. Upon arrival at the scene, advanced level responders provide treatment utilizing the best technique to fit the situation. The advanced level unit is comprised of several hundred responders spread across Israel.
Other Services
Other Services
The Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit offers a training course to outside organizations, groups, corporations and businesses on psychological first aid. Our unit has been asked to run one-time courses for IDF sanctions, groups in the police force and even for a local squad of firemen. For more details contact Avi at
Aid for UH Medics & Debriefings
Quite often, our very own medics experience emotionally-taxing calls and walk away from a scene with emotions and feelings that they do not know how to process. Our unit helps our medics deal with what they witnessed or were involved in either with 1:1 “sessions” or in group settings.
Dog K9 Unit
The Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit started a K9 Unit which, includes one very special puppy named Lucy. Lucy, the orange-vest-wearing psychotrauma dog, has assisted people in crises on numerous occasions by helping bystanders and family members move away from the traumatic scene by “following” the dog. When there is a medical crisis, individuals must be removed from the scene, and the dog plays an important role in facilitating this. Focusing on the dog also become a welcome distraction and has a calming effect in a heightened situation.
International Missions
In August 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit, United Hatzalah sent a rescue team from Israel composed of six rescue and three Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit volunteers. They first went to Atlanta and made their way to Savannah, Miami, Naples and the Florida Keys. They helped in every way possible – assisting people to move their belongings, distributing food and drink and helping victims of the flooding with their trauma. Watch this story on Fox 5 news.
Read more
Less than a month later, in September 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. We immediately sent 5 volunteers helping with disaster relief and post trauma care from our Psychotrauma Unit. Our EMTS and therapists created trauma relief workshops for children and had many meaningful encounters helping the people deal with the catastrophe.
On October 27, 2018, during Saturday prayers, 11 people were murdered in cold blood in the Tree of Life synagogue, the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our Psychotrauma unit worked day and night with the congregants and the neighborhood at large trying to help with the severe trauma. Our volunteers talked in the schools and the JCC to work with the kids and helped anyone who needed support after their safety was deeply compromised and violated.
On Thursday, June 24, 2021, a building (the Champlain Towers), which was a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, collapsed. Hundreds of people were trapped for days and ninety-eight people died. Our team brought emotional stabilization to the families, the community centers, and the first responders searching for survivors on the premises. Our professionally trained team helped the community and family members deal with the deep trauma and pain they were experiencing. On this delegation, the Psychotrauma Unit’s trauma-trained dog, Lucy, helped numerous people open up and break down with tears; the dog was a significant player in helping people heal.
We also have a hot-line for our volunteers where they can call or send a message regarding themselves or colleagues that need assistance or are going through a hard time and need psychotrauma’s unit to help them after a difficult call.
From February-April 2022, we sent dozens of Psychotrauma volunteers to Moldova to help Ukrainian refugees. Our EMTS and therapists helped with the trauma relief for mothers, their children and the elderly who were kicked out of their homes, left their husbands and fathers, and arrived at the border empty handed after days of traveling in the freezing cold.
The goal was to help people deal with the trauma they were facing. 25,000+ refugees were provided with medical care and emotional/humanitarian aid.
Listen to our podcasts
Welcome to United Humans — a podcast that gives you a glimpse into the lives of our 8,600 volunteer medics and their families including their personal struggles, challenges and humanity. Come get to know these diverse volunteers from across the country.
