Acting as a bystander can carry significant psychological consequences. There is a growing recognition of the need for appropriate bystander aftercare.
From Recovery after rescue: The green shoots of bystander aftercare – Resuscitation
Providing First Aid support in a serious incident can leave members of the public with distressing questions and concerns about how they reacted during an emergency. Unknown or fatal outcomes can be particularly hard to process, leaving bystanders and First Aiders feeling guilty, uncertain or incompetent. Without a clear pathway for debriefing and follow-up support, these unanswered questions can have a damaging impact on mental health and someone’s capacity to help in the future.
Training in first aid is not sufficient to prepare people for the psychological strain they will undertake both during and after taking part in a first aid situation.
Follow-up Program for First Aid Providers (Norway)
Post incident self-check & self-help resources
This quick self-assessment template from Lifelines Scotland highlights some of the factors that might impact a First Aiders wellbeing following an incident.
These resource provide information about resuscitation and the responses of those involved: Resuscitation Attempt – Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK ; I am a Witness | OurHeartsight; How it feels after trying to save someone’s life | Heart Matters – BHF; cpr-post-incident-care-leaflet_web.pdf
Nicola Leister | On Normalising Responses to Trauma
NHS | Coping after a potentially traumatic event
British Red Cross | Coping after a Traumatic Event
US National Centre for PTSD: Skills for Psychological Recovery
Tolerating Distress Self-Help Resources – Information Sheets & Workbooks
| Lifelines Scotland provide a free online resource designed to support the wellbeing of First Responders. *First responders are professionals and volunteers including paramedics, firefighters, and search and rescue volunteers. They are often the first to arrive at an incident, but have more advanced training and the ability to provide a higher level of care than first aiders. The Staying Well Road Trip is an interactive, self-directed course that covers the factors that protect or threaten wellbeing, how to recognise the warning signs of psychological injury and what we can do to look after our physical and mental health. We have been discussing the provision of a similar resource specifically for the context of civilian and workplace First Aiders. |
| Take the Staying Well Road trip |
Support Lines
A post-incident follow-up can help people by providing a space to discuss specific technical First Aid questions and what ifs, normalizing and processing trauma responses, and exploring any troubling emotions experienced.
Support after cardiac arrest | Resuscitation Council UK | Call 0808 8021234 (9-5 weekdays)
Face-to-face Debriefing
We can learn a lot about debriefing from other professions e.g. medical professions, but do bear in mind that First Aid is a different context.
First Aiders will have had significantly less training or prior exposure to illness or injury than First Responders or medical professionals. It is not necessarily useful to be debriefed by someone with significantly more medical experience than you if they have lost touch of the context in which emergency First Aid is provided. Debriefing should help First Aiders to understand that their response to a frightening abnormal situation was normal.
In the UK, postvention models are available to support anyone affected by suicide; these are run by trained volunteers through support groups or the workplace and include arts-based interventions.
Peer Support Networks
Trauma Informed First Aid and With-you Consultancy Ltd are currently collaborating to explore the options in developing a national peer support network specifically for first aiders and bystanders in the UK.
If this is something you would be interested in we would love to hear from you, please get in touch at hello@with-you.co.uk with the subject header “Trauma Informed First Aid x With-you Webinar”.
Read this article in the with-you March 2026 exchange newsletter pg. 20-21:
The Chain of Survival UK Facebook group aims to support those involved in resuscitation attempts: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChainOfSurvivalUK
Support after Bystander Resuscitation (SABRE) Research Network
The SABRE network was established to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, skills, and practices between existing and emerging specialist bystander* support interventions.