April 20,
2016

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The Weekly Snapshot                            
Your source for the latest tips, information, and current campus safety resources from the NCCPS.                       
Visit the REMS Technical Assistance Center.
Recovery, Resiliency, and Emergency Incidents
 
This week in April is marked by somber anniversaries: the third anniversary of the Boston marathon bombing, the ninth anniversary of the shooting at Virginia Tech, and today, April 20th, the 17-year anniversary of the Columbine high school shooting. All these tragedies impacted numerous groups of people including the victims themselves, first responders, local communities, students, educators, families, and others. How do community members recover after an emergency incident? What resources are available to enable recovery and resiliency?
 
In February 2015, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA ) released, Effective Coordination of Recovery Resources for State, Tribal, Territorial and Local Incidents (PDF), a guide to help address the recovery challenges with any type of emergency incident - natural, man-made, economic, or ecological. The "whole community approach" outlined in this guide expands on the concepts originally set forth in the National Disaster Recovery Framework (PDF), released in September 2011. The Effective Coordination guide also discusses how to enhance resiliency of the entire community as recovery progresses and offers concrete examples through case studies of how this can be achieved.
 
The Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center offers a more hands on approach through training opportunities for educators. REMS conducts rolling train-the-educator and train-the-trainer courses on Resilience Strategies for Educators (RSE): Techniques for Self-Care and Peer Support. According to REMS, "The RSE training is designed to provide educators and master trainers with a better understanding of resilience strategies that can be used to increase their ability to work more effectively with students impacted by stress, loss, and trauma brought on by community or family violence, natural and man-made disasters, and economic hardship."
 
An issue of critical importance and concern for first responders with respect to resiliency is compassion fatigue (CF). Also known as "vicarious traumatization" or secondary traumatization, CF is defined as the emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It differs from burn-out, but can co-exist. CF can occur due to exposure on one case or can be due to a cumulative level of trauma. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Safety and Risk Management Department hosts an annual Best Practices in Higher Education Emergency Management Conference. In 2013, FEI Behavioral Health, a company dedicated to promoting workforce effectiveness and organizational resiliency presented, Increasing Personal Resilience for Emergency Response Team Members (PDF). This presentation highlights the threat of CF, best practices for workforce resilience, and steps to take before, during, and after an emergency event.
 
The Community and Regional Resilience Institute  (CARRI) and the Meridian Institute were selected by FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Academic Engagement (OAE), and additional partners to develop the Campus Resilience Enhancement System (CaRES). CARRI, FEMA, DHS and its partners understand that "resilience must be a key factor in their planning to ensure the safety and economic vitality of American college and university campuses and their surrounding communities." CaRES will modify and adapt the Community Resilience System framework to college and university community campus resilience needs. CARRI is working with selected campuses to test and verify the tools, resources, and processes that would be most effective in campus resilience.
 
Numerous other publications, policies, and resources on recovery and resiliency are available. We've highlighted some below:
Access the 2016 National Seasonal Preparedness Messaging Calendar
Access the 2016 National Seasonal Preparedness Messaging Calendar.
April 30, 2016: National PrepareAthon! Day

America's PrepareAthon! is a national community-based campaign for action to increase emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions, and exercises. Two days a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, are designated as a national day of action. For 2016, April 30th is National PrepareAthon! Day. Each week in April and May, America's PrepareAthon! will be focusing on a specific hazard theme to drive participation in activities in the lead up to the April 30thNational PrepareAthon! Day and the month thereafter. This is an opportune time for school districts, state education agencies, institutions of higher education, and community partners to make plans to prepare for a variety of hazards.
 
America's PrepareAthon! website offers a variety of resources to help you and your community members learn more about hazards (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms) that can affect your community, plan for a successful PrepareAthon! Day, and prepare for implementing and promoting your day of action. Colleges and universities can find out where preparedness activities are happening, connect with communities of practice, or add their own activities to a map shared with others. For example, Bellevue College is hosting a First Responder Appreciation Day at its campus on May 4th and Miami Dade College's executive incident management team is meeting with each campus crisis management team to review communications plans, incident command, and conduct an exercise on May 20th. 
 
Additional informational resources are available to help your campus get involved:
  • Stories - Read more about individuals, communities, and organizations across the country who are participating in America's PrepareAthon! such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) dynamic outreach campaign and accomplishment of achieving StormReady status.
  • Resources - Access to FEMA resources, in English and other languages, on communication tools, national creative materials, and other materials to promote preparedness for specific hazards.
  • Forums - Alerts and warnings, America's PrepareAthon!, and pet preparedness.
You can register your activities and participate in online discussion forums by  creating an account at America's PrepareAthon! You may send PrepareAthon! inquires via e-mail and follow the #PrepareAthon conversation on Twitter @PrepareAthon.

For information on the impact social media is having on disaster response and recovery, view the recent Emergency Management article, " Social Media in the Face of Disaster Response" and the corresponding infographic. 
Access our online calendar of events.
Professional Development Opportunities

Title:   Community Healthcare Planning and Response to Disasters (MGT-409)
Hosted by:   National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT)
Dates: May 25-26, 2016
Location:   Northport, NY
Fee: Free
 
Title:   Managing Critical Incidents for Higher Education Institutions: A Multi-Disciplinary Community Approach (MGT-361)
Supported by:   Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX)
Dates and Locations:
  • May 24-26, 2016 in Tulsa, OK
  • June 7-9, 2016 in Conshohocken, PA
  • June 21-23, 2016 in Raleigh, NC
Fee: Free
 
Title:   How to Plan a Successful Training for Law Enforcement
Hosted by: End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI)
Date: June 8, 2016 at 11:00am PT
Location: Online
Fee: Free
This project was supported by Grant No. 2013-MU-BX-K011 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice.
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