When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Southeastern Louisiana University was spared the brunt of the storm and was fortunate that most structures on campus remained intact. However, the storm still affected the campus for weeks. This article reflects on the experiences of university leaders and facility managers as they provided…

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This "Lessons Learned" issue focuses on an incident involving several cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at a rural high school. MRSA is a specific strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (often called staph)…

A university president's worst nightmare can take any number of forms. The lone shooter run amok on campus. The freight-train sound of a tornado bearing down on a dormitory. A river cresting its banks, about to flood a college town. From robberies and assaults to fires and chemical spills, the list goes on and on. Campus security and safety…

The PREPaRE Crisis Prevention and Intervention Curriculum is the first comprehensive curriculum developed and offered by NASP. PREPaRE's purpose is to build the capacity of schools at the local level to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from crisis events. Embedded in this primary goal is the ability to foster systems change consistent…

This issue of ERCMExpress provides direction to schools and school districts in "Creating Emergency Management Plans." To ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff, schools and school districts nationwide should create comprehensive, multi-hazard emergency management plans that focus on the four phases of emergency management--…

Discusses a survey of U.S. school-based police which revealed gaps in security, emergency plans, and training. (EV)

History teaches that a lack of disaster awareness and preparation are common threads among all major weather-related disasters. Weather hazards come in many forms: storm surge, high winds, blizzards, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, or a combination of these. It is important for both family and work colleagues to have an action plan…

Technology has given people more ways to communicate, but contacting people seems to be harder than ever. Although most districts purchase a software to tell parents, students, and staff about inclement weather or to broadcast school announcements, new applications for informing and enlightening are still being discovered. Iredell-Statesville…

"Helpful Hints" offers a quick overview of school emergency preparedness topics that are frequently the subject of inquiries. Developing and implementing comprehensive, multi-hazard emergency management plans is an ongoing process that must be consistently reinforced and strengthened. Opportunities for reviewing, strengthening and updating…

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This "Lessons Learned" issue focuses on the response and recovery efforts to wildfires by the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and its school and community partners. Natural disasters such as floods,…

The changing demographic landscape of the United States calls for a reassessment of the societal impacts and consequences of so called "natural" and technological disasters. An increasing trend towards greater demographic and socio-economic diversity (in part due to high rates of international immigration), combined with mounting…

Traditionally, violent acts against children in Japan were considered private, isolated incidents largely outside the reach of government policy and legal action. Increasingly, however, public perception in Japan, mainly driven by the mass media, has shifted away from such complacency. A few well-publicized attacks on children have forced Mombusho…

The overarching goal of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) is to build a safer, more secure, and more resilient America by preventing, deterring, neutralizing, or mitigating the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit elements of our Nation's critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR)…

This paper reflects the experience of the authors working in the field of humanitarian education during the last two decades. Important changes have been witnessed since the Central American crises of the seventies, the refugee focus of the eighties and the new UN vision of the complex emergency crisis of the nineties resulting from the post Cold…

Most board members are aware of their fiduciary duty to oversee proper risk management of their institutions. Most boards are kept abreast of the various federal laws and the necessary insurance coverage, internal audits, and accreditation reviews that make modern-day governing boards increasingly more accountable. Given this combination of…