Psychologists to help flood victims

BELGRADE - In the wake of the catastrophic floods in Serbia, psychologists from the Ministry of Defence, the Serbian Armed Forces, health care and academic institutions and Unicef are participating in Psychological First Aid, a campaign aimed at providing support to evacuees, rescue teams and teams to be involved in rehabilitation operations in flood-hit areas.

All activities will be coordinated through a psychological call centre at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, where information will be collected about all psychologists and psychiatrists willing to join the campaign.

A phone helpline will be opened in the coming days to provide psychosocial support to evacuees and those in danger.

The psychologists are cooperating with the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade, which is spearheading a drive to establish expert teams for adults and young people, as well as with Unicef and the Centre for Interactive Pedagogy, which is setting up expert teams for children.

The campaign is supported by the Serbian Psychological Society, the Institute of Mental Health and other health care and academic institutions.