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The role of the organisational psychologist in disasters and emergency situations
Author(s) -
San Juan Guillén César
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01215.x
Subject(s) - human factors and ergonomics , poison control , suicide prevention , medical emergency , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , engineering , forensic engineering , psychology , medicine , pathology
Interventions in extreme situations, such as natural or technological disasters, terrorist attacks or emergencies in general, take place in settings of great uncertainty and are always accompanied by extraordinary circumstances. For this reason, there are various processes related to implementing intervention protocols that must be carefully examined, including an evaluation of work scenarios, personnel selection, within‐group relationships in work teams, decision‐making processes, or certain peculiarities of burnout among emergency personnel. In the view of this author, an ad hoc review of the role of the organisational psychologist can highlight interesting analysis and performance possibilities that could make work in emergency and disasters contexts more effective. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of the organisational psychologist pre‐and post‐disaster. Furthermore, it supports the idea that professional profiles must be designed that take into account specific knowledge and skills, as well as certain aptitudes and values.