Background: We evaluate the public health surveillance program, Screen, Test, and Protect (STP) designed to control and prevent COVID-19 at a large academic university in the United States. Methods: STP was established at the University of Florida in May 2020. This report details STP's full-time workforce, centralized database, and testing and…

The National Association of School Psychologists developed the "PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum" to help schools plan for and prevent school crises and to help mitigate the effects after a crisis occurs. In this study, 279 participants who attended the PREPaRE training between 1 and 24 months before…

This paper offers a fresh perspective on the COVID-19 situation of higher education institutions from a disaster-management perspective. Based on conceptual models of disaster management theory and with the help of a longitudinal multi-method, multi-perspective approach, this research contributes to better understanding the challenges during and…

This article explores the multifaceted role of education in strengthening crisis communication strategies, particularly using the 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquake as a primary case study. It delves into the crisis communication techniques employed during the earthquake, highlighting challenges in coordination, communication gaps, and the inadequate…

Purpose: Evaluating emergency preparedness exercises is crucial for assessing enhanced knowledge, facilitating learning and implementing knowledge in organizations. The cognitive process of motivation for action is a precursor for action, coping behavior and individual learning. This study aims to focus on how guided evaluation of emergency…

Creating a plan for crisis prevention, intervention, and postvention procedures allows schools to prepare for the traumatic consequences when a crisis inevitably occurs. The comprehensive crisis plan checklist--second edition (CCPC-2; McCleary & Aspiranti, 2020) is a 102-item tool created for evaluating individual school and district crisis…

This dissertation examines the fidelity in which school districts are prepared to implement their reunification plan in the event of a tragedy or emergency. School emergencies continue to occur, and safety plans need to be developed and administered to support and protect students and staff. This dissertation is organized into two separate papers.…

School principals are responsible for the safety and well-being of the children entrusted to their care. Parents expect their children to be safe and protected and that school leaders establish and maintain clear lines of communication during a time of crisis. Within their capacity as school leaders, it is incumbent on them to guarantee that…

The presence of volunteers, both affiliated and unaffiliated, and the influx of donations during and after an emergency can be addressed through a comprehensive emergency operations plan (EOP). Education agencies and their planning teams must consider developing a system that addresses the different types of donations and volunteers, how they will…

At a large suburban high school in the United States, the first home football game was taking place after missing a full season due to the pandemic. The stands were packed as the school community gathered to celebrate the return to some normalcy. Shortly after the third quarter began, a beloved coach/teacher collapsed on the sideline. Paramedics…

Accidents and disasters can potentially affect most elementary school students. Accordingly, comprehensive school safety is important to ensure children's safety. This study aimed to identify the key indicators of the minimum standards for Disaster Preparedness and Safety School programs as a conceptual framework of comprehensive school safety in…

When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, public safety departments at four-year institutions of higher education in the U.S. were vulnerable. This vulnerability was because of the limited time they had to initiate their pandemic response to help protect their campus communities, and the need to create or revise institutional emergency response…

Although school districts have prepared and planned for school crises for many years in response to the Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting tragedies, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges for school districts when dealing with educating students amid a pandemic. This qualitative phenomenological study examined…

Given that the contemporary world is changing substantially and enduringly, there is now an increasing call for transforming learning landscapes to actualize future-ready education, which equips students with the diversified knowledge, skills, and qualities to cope with the unforeseeable and ever-evolving future. In recent years, many crises,…

Public schools in the United States are prone to crises that can have major effects on the student, parents, teachers, and school community (Smith & Riley, 2012). In addition to all school leaders in the country experiencing the COVID-19 crisis, others also experienced crises related to extreme weather, wildfires, and weapons offenses. Through…