Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been known by other names and not well studied prior to returning Vietnam veterans who suffered psychological dysfunction. However, the term PTSD became part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders in 1981. Since that time PTSD has been researched extensively in veterans. However,…

A significant number of children and adolescents engage in deliberate fire setting, beyond the scope of curiosity and experimentation. Interventions developed to respond to the needs of such fire setters generally involve educational and/or psychosocial approaches. Research evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions is dominated by…

The effective teaching of fire investigation skills presents logistical challenges because of the difficulty of providing students with access to suitable fire damaged buildings so that they can undertake authentic investigation tasks. At Charles Sturt University (CSU), in the subject JST415, "Fire Investigation Cause and Origin…

Differences between fire department and police department personnel (N = 190) concerning work-related stressors and depression were examined with regard to gender and relationship status. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) and the Distressing Event Questionnaire (E. S. Kubany,…

This paper examines gender differences in awareness, preparedness and attitudes towards bushfire amongst landholders in rural landscapes affected by amenity-led in-migration in southeast Australia. It considers the potential of conceptualising bushfire not as a gender-neutral natural phenomenon but as an important means by which traditional gender…

Fire service field staff instructors seek and share information and use information sources during their instructional work of teaching, training and curriculum development. This study is the first attempt to study their information-seeking and sharing behaviors, which have not previously been investigated empirically. Twenty-five fire service…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal and analyse dominant learning processes in emergency response work from the fire-fighters' point of view, and how fire-fighters develop their competence. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted an explorative approach using participant observation. The objective of this open-minded approach…

Background: Violence at a school can have a negative impact on the health of students, teachers, administrators, and others associated with the school and surrounding community. The use of weapons in school buildings or on school grounds accounts for the majority of violent deaths, particularly among males. This national trend suggests the need…

Assessment of complex task performance is crucial to evaluating personnel in critical job functions such as Navy damage control operations aboard ships. Games and simulations can be instrumental in this process, as they can present a broad range of complex scenarios without involving harm to people or property. However, "automatic"…

Given increasing political and financial commitments to wildfire preparedness, risk policy demands that risk identification, assessment, and mitigation activities are balanced among diverse resident groups. Essential for this is the understanding of residents' perceptions of wildfire risks. This study compares wildfire-risk perceptions of…

Imprudent behavior, indolence, dilatoriness, being unable to predict the result of behavior, perceiving probable harm far less than its magnitude based upon cognitive distortion, and suchlike are some reasons that lead individuals to indulge in risky behaviors without taking precautionary measures and to look for simple and easy solutions which do…

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the beginning of the process to develop rules for new requirements in the recently passed Higher Education Act (HEA). Highlights of the HEA that affect campus public safety departments include measures that: (1) Require a fire log be maintained at an institution of higher education for events that…

"Child Care Health Connections" is a bimonthly newsletter published by the California Childcare Health Program (CCHP), a community-based program of the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing. The goals of the newsletter are to promote and support a healthy and safe environment…

For education administrators, campus fires are not only a distressing loss, but also a stark reminder that a campus faces risks that require special vigilance. In many ways, campuses resemble small communities, with areas for living, working and relaxing. A residence hall fire may raise the specter of careless youth, often with the complication of…

Safety for students and staff from hazards that can be created by unsafe conditions, behaviour, disasters or emergencies in schools cannot be guaranteed. This is because of inadequate preparedness and awareness programs for safety needs. This study investigated the adequacy of procedures, precautions and infrastructure to respond to fire outbreaks…