Americans have been exposed to increased levels of mass violence during the past decade. School violence, shootings in the workplace, and terrorist acts both here and abroad--all have affected individuals, families, communities, and our country. This report addresses the urgent need to evaluate the various psychological interventions that are…

This guide offers suggestions to college administrators for dealing with a variety of emergency or crisis situations that could affect a community college's effectiveness. The authors used the Institute for Crisis Management's (ICM) four types of crises in higher education as the framework for the guide. The four types of crises are: (1) sudden;…

This paper describes a bioterrorism incident at a Connecticut elementary school. Flowers sent to a teacher were permeated with anthrax spores that infected the teacher, 12 of her students, 3 office staff members, and an administrator. The teacher subsequently died. The Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed that the students and staff…

This paper and accompanying workshop address the changing and expanding role of school psychologists resulting from disasters and increasing violence in schools and communities. The objectives of this workshop were: to encourage school psychologists to expand their roles to include crisis intervention as an essential part of their service…

With the increasing diversity of the United States population, there is a growing awareness of the need for culturally specific responses to help survivors of disasters and violence. When school psychologists are called upon to intervene, they need to be able to link survivors to support systems. In order to provide services to survivors of…

Major natural and human-caused disasters deeply affect children, and they have a special vulnerability to such events. The importance of providing crisis counseling recovery assistance within the context of their special world cannot be over emphasized. The information in this manual provides both theory and guidance to individuals concerned with…

Fire safety in schools, long recognized as a serious problem by both public officials and lay citizens, is concerned with preventing personal injury or death and property damage or destruction. The responsibility for this prevention is lodged in many hands, but school officials having jurisdiction in the matter are usually charged with developing…

This article discusses how to teach children about fire prevention and what to do if a fire breaks out. Steps that schools should take to prepare for fire emergencies are outlined, as are fire prevention measures for the home. (PP)

Examined problems in communicating emergency information to multi-ethnic communities using a sample of flood warning recipients in a town with a large Mexican American segment. Results showed Mexican Americans were more skeptical, were less likely to evacuate and were less likely to interpret messages as indicating personal danger. (RC)

Defining the nature and extent of risk associated with adventure education, this article notes the riskiest activities and delineates three main causes of accidents: unsafe conditions; unsafe acts; and judgmental errors. Careful program organization, staff selection, routine safety inspections, and emergency plans are also addressed. (SB)

Focuses on developing media relations, emergency policies, and handling press communications during crises at camps. Uses numerous anecdotes to describe good press relations and methods of working with news reporters. Emphasizes importance of emergency planning and establishing press coordinator. Describes crisis monitoring and follow-up…

College and university public relations professionals offer advice on coping with campus crises. Suggestions include responding quickly, telling the truth to the media early, trading on relationships within the campus community, capitalizing on institutional credibility with the media, remembering internal audiences, understanding legal…

Asserts that how people respond to risk is determined by how they perceive risk. Four-hundred and seven secondary school students answered questions concerning different dimensions of natural hazards (most likely to occur, loss of life, and others). Although the students possessed a high level of awareness much of their information was inaccurate.…

A survey of 169 dental hygiene training programs investigated the curriculum content and instruction concerning medical emergency treatment, related clinical practice, and program policy. Several trends are noted: increased curriculum hours devoted to emergency care; shift in course content to more than life-support care; and increased emergency…

Examines the impact of Hurricane Andrew on the Miami-Dade Public Library System (MDPLS). Topics discussed include the community's response to the sudden lack of library services; the use of library branches as emergency relief centers and communications centers; library disaster policies; and visions for MDPLS under a new director. (LRW)