Researchers at southern Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have released a new application that aims to enable anyone present at a trauma event to administer psychological first aid.

Its creators hope that the technology, available in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, will help prevent the development of trauma among both regular citizens and first responders in Israel, Diaspora Jews coping with antisemitic events overseas, and Gulf Arabs.

Since the start of the current Israeli-US war with Iran, many Gulf Arabs are confronting mass trauma events for the first time.

Within seconds, the free application offers the first responder suggestions based on science and international protocols. A chatbot invites users to briefly describe the event, then tells them what to say in that specific circumstance. This includes maintaining eye contact with the victim and encouraging him or her to think, speak, and, where possible, perform a physical action.

Talia Meital Schwartz-Tayri, who founded and heads the southern university’s AI for Social Work Laboratory, which produces the application, said she had joined a volunteer group of mental health professionals immediately after the deadly Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which 1,200 people  were killed and 251 were abducted to the Gaza Strip, all of whom have since been returned, either alive or dead.

She said she witnessed how difficult it was for professional first responders to practice the principles of psychological first aid they had learned because they, too, were in shock.

“You need to carry out a series of actions,” she explained, “but you yourself are overwhelmed by what you are seeing.” In many cases, the first responders left the event feeling that they had failed to help, which aggravated their own trauma, Schwartz-Tayr added.

Turning to the current Israeli-US war with Iran, she stressed that most people suffering from shock and anxiety after missile attacks would not need to be ferried to the hospital if the right psychological first aid was provided at the scene.

Being taken to the hospital creates “maladaptive memory of the event, which contributes towards trauma,” she said. “People remember their helplessness, the journey in the ambulance, the inability to function, the failure to look after the children. If you can bring people back to activity and functioning, their memory of the event changes.”

The chatbot’s instructions always end with details of appropriate organizations to which a victim can be referred. “One of the failures of treatment today, worldwide, is the lack of a continuum in care, and that can be a game changer,” Schwartz-Tayri said.

The chatbot, trained on data taken from real cases in Israel and research papers, responds to a range of emergencies, from missile attacks and mass shootings to earthquakes, family violence, and sexual assault. Aimed at anyone over the age of 16, it has been widely trialed.

Schwartz-Tayri said the need for psychological first aid was especially pressing in the Arab and Jewish Mizrahi communities — the latter referring to Jews with roots in Muslim lands.

“The chance that someone in Arab society, especially a man, will look for psychological support is low,” she said, citing cultural stigmas. She said she had seen how the same stigmas played out in her own extended Mizrahi family.

Earlier this month, the lab held a webinar for Arabic speakers, attracting over 100 participants.

Schwartz-Tayri hopes the application can be popularized in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain through Israel’s embassies there, and promoted in English for Diaspora communities.

The application was developed with the help of mental health officers and senior IDF commanders, scientists specializing in emergency medicine, and professionals and volunteers working in national emergency services, frontline units of hospitals and aid organizations.

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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU)

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