Background: Video-based training has been widely adopted by private organizations and public authorities to educate occupants on various types of building emergencies. However, the effectiveness of video-based training for preparing occupants for building emergencies has not been rigorously studied nor has the impact of emergency type been…

Fire and rescue operations in tunnels constitute unusual and complex working environments for first responders. The ability to make correct decisions, based on the tunnel's specific characteristics, demands welltrained incident commanders equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills. The potential catastrophic consequences of tunnel fires have…

This research explores the perceptions of preservice teachers in Turkey in terms of their preparedness for various disasters, including epidemics, earthquakes, fires, and floods, all of which have profound social and economic impacts on education. Using a descriptive survey model, the study examined the responses of 512 preservice teachers at a…

Purpose: The overall quality of education may be compromised due to the limited availability of safety and security (S&S) courses in professional teacher education. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main safety-related training needs of a higher education institution, which may provide insights for improving the quality of education…

The emergency industry has always been an important and challenging profession. Paramedics and firefighters are exposed on a daily basis to potentially traumatic situations with some of what they experience leading to transformations, changing them deeply and fundamentally. These transformative experiences (Paul [2016]. "Transformative…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

Schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs) are an integral part of their communities; when a community experiences a major emergency event or incident, schools and IHEs in that community are also affected. Comprehensive emergency operations plans (EOPs) should, therefore, consider all threats and hazards that may occur within the…

Emergency response services are vital for enhancing public safety by safeguarding the environment, property, and human lives. As frontline members of these services, 9-1-1 dispatchers have a direct impact on response times and the overall effectiveness of emergency operations. However, traditional dispatcher training methods, which rely on…

This research aims to systematically compare the educational concepts between the U.S. and China, to answer a research question: what courses, based on the experience of developing fire services in both countries, should be included in firefighting higher education programs to increase knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)? The authors utilized…

This is the second in a series of five briefs published by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology on the key considerations facing educational leaders as they work to build and sustain core digital infrastructure for learning. These briefs offer recommendations to complement the fundamental infrastructure considerations…

This article describes use of a virtual environment in a multi-disciplinary context to enhance discipline specific skills. A virtual environment built by reusing gaming technology was modified in a collaboration across Computing, Construction Management and Nursing & Midwifery disciplines. A two-staged pilot evaluation considered (i) a…

We describe the adaptation of an existing afterschool STEM program in order to make it more relevant and effective for rural teens. The award-winning Teen Science Café (TSC) program was modified to redirect focus away from traditional, academic STEM careers toward STEM in First Response, a field whose members are common and visible in rural areas.…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

Many people are not aware of how significant a role two-year institutions play in training emergency first responders. Community colleges play a key role in training the nation's police officers and other public safety employees, such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). The demand for these programs is high. There is a…

School emergency management can be addressed through the development of a school emergency operations plan (EOP) that addresses the school safety continuum, including safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness. Planners will address hazards and threats (e.g., wildfire and criminal activity), emergency management functions…