What Rescue 

Workers Can Do

Police, Fire, and other First Responders

From the National Institute of Mental Health

Helping Children and Adolescents 

Cope with Violence and Disasters

Coping with Trauma after violence 

and disasters

What is Trauma?

Helping Young Trauma Survivors

How Rescue Workers Can Help

Help for all people in the First 

Days and Weeks

How Children React to Trauma

Children under 5

Children Age 6-11

Adolescents Ages 12-17

More about Trauma and Stress

Additional Resources

Violence or disasters can cause trauma in young people. Trauma 

results from hurt, harm or intense fear. It can be caused by harm 

to a person’s body. It can be caused by fear in a person’s mind.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) works to help children 

who experience trauma. Other Federal agencies also provide help. 

Rescue workers play important roles. They help children who 

experience violence or disaster. They help children cope with trauma. 

They help protect children from further trauma. They also help young 

people avoid or overcome emotional problems. These problems can 

result from trauma.

This fact sheet provides steps rescue 

workers can take. It gives information on:

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Coping with Trauma After Violence and Disasters

Disasters cause major damage. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were examples. 

They occurred in 2005. Many homes were destroyed. Whole communities 

were damaged. Many survivors were displaced. There were also 

many deaths. 

Trauma is also caused by major acts of violence. The September 11, 2001 

terrorist attacks were examples. Another example was the 1999 shootings 

at Columbine High School in Colorado. The Oklahoma City bombing in 

1995 was also an example. These acts claim lives. They also threaten our 

sense of security.

Beyond these events, children face many other traumas. Each year, young 

people are injured. They see others harmed by violence. They suffer sexual 

abuse. They lose loved ones. Or, they witness other tragic events. 

Children are very sensitive. They struggle to make sense of trauma. They 

also respond differently to traumas. They often have emotional reactions. 

They may hurt deeply. They may find it hard to recover from frightening 

experiences. As a result they may need extra support. Rescue workers can 

provide this support. This may help children avoid or overcome long-term 

emotional problems.

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
What is Trauma?

There are two types of trauma – physical and mental. Physical trauma 

includes the body’s response to serious injury and threat. Mental trauma 

includes frightening thoughts and painful feelings. They are the mind’s 

response to serious injury. Mental trauma can produce strong feelings. 

It can also produce extreme behavior; such as intense fear or helplessness, 

withdrawal or detachment, lack of concentration, irritability, sleep 

disturbance, aggression, hyper vigilance (intensely watching for more 

distressing events), or flashbacks (sense that event is reoccurring).

A response could be fear. It could be fear that a loved one will be hurt or 

killed. It is believed that more direct exposures to traumatic events cause 

greater harm. For instance, in a school shooting, an injured student will 

probably be more severely affected emotionally than a student who 

was in another part of the building. However, second-hand exposure 

to violence can also be traumatic. This includes witnessing violence such 

as seeing or hearing about death and destruction after a building is 

bombed or a plane crashes.

What Rescue Workers Can Do
Helping Young Trauma Survivors

Helping children begins at the scene of the event. It may need to continue 

for weeks or months.

Most children recover within a few weeks. Some need help longer. Grief 

(a deep emotional response to loss) may take months to resolve. It could 

be for a loved one or a teacher. It could be for a friend or pet. Grief may 

be re-experienced or worsened by news reports or the event’s anniversary.

Some children may need help from a mental health professional. Some 

people may seek other kinds of help. They may turn to religious leaders. 

They may turn to community leaders.

Identify children who need the most support. Help them obtain it. 

Monitor their healing. 

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters


Identify Children Who: 

• Refuse to go places that remind them of the event 

• Seem numb emotionally 

• Show little reaction to the event 

• Behave dangerously

These children may need extra help.

In general adult helpers should:

Attend to children

• Listen to them

• Accept/ do not argue about their feelings

• Help them cope with the reality of their experiences

Reduce effects of other stressors like

• Frequent moving or changes in place of residence

• Long periods away from family and friends

• Pressures at school

• Transportation problems

• Fighting within the family

• Being hungry

Monitor healing

• It takes time

• Do not ignore severe reactions

• Attend to sudden changes in behaviors, language

use, or in emotional/feeling states

Remind children that adults

• Love them

• Support them

• Will be with them when possible.

What Rescue Workers Can Do
How Rescue Workers Can Help

After violence or disaster rescue workers should:

Protect children

• From further harm

• From traumatic sights and sounds

• From onlookers and media

Be kind, but firm in directing children

• Away from the event site

• Away from injured survivors 

Keep children together with family 

and friends

Identify children who need the most 

support and help them obtain it.

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters


Identify children in acute distress

• Stay with them until they are calm 

• They may tremble

• They may ramble 

• They may become mute

• They may exhibit erratic behavior 

Loud crying

Rage

They may sit completely still or frozen 

Be tolerant of difficult behavior

Be tolerant of strong emotions

Supportive acts help children feel safe

• A quick hug

• A reassuring word.

What Rescue Workers Can Do
Key steps can help adults cope. Adults can then provide better care for 

children. Create safe conditions. Be calm. Be hopeful. Be friendly. Connect 

to others. Be sensitive to difficult people. Encourage respect for adult 

decision-making.

In general help people: 

• Get food

• Get a safe place to live

• Get help from a doctor or nurse if hurt 

• Contact loved ones or friends

• Keep children with parents or relatives

• Understand what happened

• Understand what is being done

• Know where to get help

• Meet their own needs

Avoid certain things

• Don’t force people to tell their stories

• Don’t probe for personal details

• Do not say

“Everything will be OK.”

 “At least you survived.” 

What you think people should feel

How people should have acted

People suffered for personal behaviors or beliefs

Negative things about available help

• Don’t make promises that you can’t keep

(Ex: “You will go home soon”).

Help for all people in the First Days and Weeks

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
Children’s reactions to trauma can be immediate. Reactions may also 

appear much later. Reactions differ in severity. They also cover a range 

of behaviors. People from different cultures may have their own ways 

of reacting. Other reactions vary according to age.

One common response is loss of trust. Another is fear of the event 

reoccurring. Some children are more vulnerable to traumas. Children 

with mental health problems may be more affected. Children with 

experience of other traumas may be more affected. 

How Children React to Trauma

What Rescue Workers Can Do

Children’s reactions to trauma can be 

immediate or may appear much later.
Children Age 5 and Under

Children under five can react in a number of ways:

• Facial expressions of fear

• Clinging to parent or caregiver

• Crying or screaming

• Whimpering or trembling

• Moving aimlessly

• Becoming immobile

• Returning to behaviors common to being younger 

Thumb sucking

Bedwetting

Being afraid of the dark

Young children’s reactions are strongly 

influenced by parent reactions to the event.

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
11

Children Age 6 to 11

Children in this range may:

• Isolate themselves

• Become quiet around friends, family, and teachers 

• Have nightmares or other sleep problems

• Become irritable or disruptive

• Have outbursts of anger

• Start fights 

• Be unable to concentrate

• Refuse to go to school 

• Complain of physical problems 

• Develop unfounded fears

• Become depressed

• Become filled with guilt

• Feel numb emotionally 

• Do poorly with school and homework 

What Rescue Workers Can Do
Adolescents Age 12 to 17

Children in this range have various reactions:

• Flashbacks to the event (flashbacks are the mind 

reliving the event)

• Avoiding reminders of the event 

• Drug, alcohol, tobacco use and abuse

• Antisocial behavior i.e. disruptive, disrespectful, 

or destructive behavior

• Physical complaints

• Nightmares or other sleep problems 

• Isolation or confusion

• Depression 

• Suicidal thoughts

Adolescents may feel guilty. They may feel 

guilt for not preventing injury or deaths. 

They also may have thoughts of revenge. 

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
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Some children will have prolonged problems after a traumatic event. 

These may include grief, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress 

disorder (PTSD). Children may show a range of symptoms:

More About Trauma and Stress

• Re-experiencing the event 

Through play

Through trauma-specific nightmares/ dreams

In flashbacks and unwanted memories

By distress over events that remind them of the trauma

• Avoidance of reminders of the event

• Lack of responsiveness 

• Lack of interest in things that used to interest them

• A sense of having “no future” 

• Increased sleep disturbances

• Irritability

• Poor concentration

• Be easily startled

• Behavior from earlier life stages. 

What Rescue Workers Can Do
Children experience trauma differently. It is difficult to tell how many 

will develop mental health problems. Some trauma survivors get 

better with only good support. Others need counseling by a mental 

health professional. 

If, after a month in a safe environment

• Children are not able to perform normal routines 

• New symptoms develop

Then, contact a health professional.

Some people are more sensitive to trauma. 

Factors influencing how one may respond include:

• Being directly involved in the trauma, 

especially as a victim

• Severe and/or prolonged exposure to the event

• Personal history of prior trauma

• Family or personal history of mental illness and 

severe behavior problems

• Lack of social support

• Lack of caring family and friends

• On-going life stressors such as moving to a new home,

or new school, divorce, job change, financial trouble

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
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Some symptoms may require immediate attention. 

Contact a mental health professional if these 

symptoms occur:

• Flashbacks

• Racing heart and sweating

• Being easily startled

• Being emotionally numb

• Being very sad or depressed

• Thoughts or actions to end life

What Rescue Workers Can Do
Additional Resources

Individuals and organizations can obtain publications about stress and 

anxiety disorders, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD ), from 

NIMH. Call the toll-free information service at 1-866-615-6464 (toll-free) 

or 1-866-415-8051 (TTY toll-free). 

Information is also available online at 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/anxietymenu.cfm

The list below includes other government agencies that may have 

additional information on helping children and adolescents cope 

with violence and disasters:

Center for Mental Health Services

Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17C-20

Rockville, MD 20857

Email: ken@mentalhealth.org

Web site: http://www.mentalhealth.org/cmhs/

emergencyservices/index.htm

US Dept of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202

Phone: 1-800-USA-LEARN

TTY: 1-800-437-0833

Email: customerservice@inet.ed.gov

Web site: https://www.ed.gov

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
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US Dept of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Web site: http://www.usdoj.gov

Federal Emergency Management Agency

(Information for children and adolescents)

P.O. Box 2012

Jessup, MD 20794-2012

Phone: 1-800-480-2520

Web site: http://www.fema.gov/kids

National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Phone: (802) 296-6300 

Email: ncptsd@ncptsd.org

Web site: http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

905 W. Main Street

Suite 25-B 

Durham, NC 27701 

Phone: (919) 682-1552 

Fax: (919) 667-9578 

Email: info@nctsn.org
u.s. Department of Health and Human Services

National Institutes of Health

NIH Publication No. 07-3520

Revised 2006