Immediate treatment following the November 13 attacks: Use of an EMDR emergency protocol

The objective of this article is to report on an emergency posttraumatic treatment following the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. Thirty-six children and 20 adults were treated with EMDR therapy or debriefing within 48 hours after the attacks. Quantitative assessments were performed pre- and post-treatment and at a 3-month follow-up. The EMDR treatment administered to the children and the debriefing used with the adults both showed their efficacy through the reduction on all quantitative measures. Our results indicate that the EMDR approach and emergency treatment strategies may be promising treatment strategies that are non-invasive and preventive. Although these results should be completed by studies on larger samples with a control group, they remain promising in that they suggest that an emergency psychological treatment based on EMDR procedures may prove effective in preventing the installation of a post-attack posttraumatic stress disorder.