Responding to complex problems and emergencies such as COVID-19 requires both rapid response and long-term planning. Part of the response and planning needs to be based on lessons learned from previous crisis experiences. Organizations should be routinely conducting strategic reviews of previous responses, projects, or events to analyze the…

Crises, whether human or natural, occur on all college campuses. Extensive research has been conducted on crisis preparedness at four-year, nondenominational institutions. This study examined crisis preparedness at Christian institutions of higher education. The study examined the perspectives of presidents of Christian institutions of higher…

Extension is uniquely positioned to participate in emergency exercises, formally or informally, with the goal of engaging community members in emergency and disaster preparedness. With their knowledge of community needs, Extension personnel are valuable resources and can assist emergency managers in the process of identifying local risks and…

A freak blizzard, a mentally ill and armed student, a record-breaking flood. No matter how idyllic a campus may feel, no matter how cocooned the ivory tower, disaster can strike. If a campus is unprepared, it comes like a sucker punch, potentially turning a crisis into a tragedy of unimagined proportions--and causing reverberations that will be…

In this article, Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness describes disasters in relation to five phases that may serve as a helpful framework for planning disaster response: (1) before the disaster (pre-disaster); (2) during the disaster (intra-disaster); (3) immediately after the disaster (immediate…

This comprehensive analysis addresses the United States' alarming lack of preparedness to respond effectively to a massive disaster as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina. First, a timeline of problematic response events during and after Hurricane Katrina orients readers to some of the specific problems encountered at different levels of government.…

The 2004 Vermont School Crisis Guide has been revised to improve its use by School Crisis Teams and Public Safety Committees. The Guide is now organized by roles so users can quickly locate their responsibilities in a crisis. The Crisis Guide pages can be used to document pertinent information (time, witnesses) immediately after an emergency…

The need for school-appropriate applications of critical incident stress management (CISM) is noted in the literature on school crisis response. This paper presents preliminary data suggesting a School Crisis Response Team's (SCRT) usage and team needs. The SCRT was dispatched for a variety of critical incidents. Self-dispatch, followed by…